What could have been
by Solaris2904
Summary: Rory doesn't go back to Logan after he cheated. She was single when she went to see Jess at the open house in Philadelphia. Starting at "I'm ok, you're ok". Rory and Jess story with Lorelai and Luke in there too. Rating for some language and themes later.
1. Chapter 1

Well, she was back at Paris'. She had no choice, she couldn't go back there, not after what he had done. Rory had already spoken to her mother who had agreed with her thoughts on the matter.

She was glad to be back here, she had missed Paris during their fight, they both needed a friend in their company right now.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, both of the women looked up in confusion. Rory recognised the voice as soon as he spoke though.

 _Logan._

"Rory, please, I just want to talk, to explain."

"Paris, I can't do this, I don't want to talk to him, please get rid of him."

"Oh, I'm on this, he won't get through me!"

Rory went towards the bedroom and closed the door behind her. While Paris went towards the door to answer it.

From her bedroom Rory could hear the string of profanaties and insults that Paris was throwing at Logan,it brought a small smile to her lips to hear the things Paris had held back in the time Rory and Logan had been together. She also heard Logans' voice, still far away, it seemed Paris was keeping him outside the door. Suddenly another voice added into the mix, another smile came to Rory when she recognised it as Doyle, although bad timing she was glad he wasn't letting Paris go without a fight. The voices were louder now, and to Rory's horror, closer. She opened the bedroom door to see Logan had come into the apartment and pushed passed Paris and Doyle, now arguing amongst themselves.

"Rory!" He was still talking loudly but not out of anger, just to be heard over the other two. "Please let me explain, I wasn't cheating, not really, I thought we were over. I wanted comfort thinking I had lost you."

"Enough, I'm not doing this, there's no excuse for what you did."

"It's not an excuse, I love you Rory."

"No, don't you dare use those words!" Rory found she was suddenly yelling and the rest of the room had gone quiet. "This isn't love, you don't do this to people you love. You gave up on me and us the moment you fell into someone elses bed!" There were tears in her eyes now that seemed to be threatening to spill.

Paris realised how upset the whole situation was making Rory and moved to put herself between Rory and Logan.

"That's it, time to leave. Now. We will be around the apartment tomorrow to officially move Rory out. Don't be there when we get there."

"Rory, don't let her just throw me out, talk to me."

Instead of replying she turned back to her bedroom and closed the door. She still heard the voices outside her door but drowned them out while she let tears fall. Everything went quiet outside so she quickly wiped all the tears away as Paris knocked on her door.

"Are you ok?" She asked as she peeked around the door.

"Not really, but I'll be ok, thank you for helping."

"Thats alright, come on, we will watch a bunch of movies and pig out on junk food"

A few hours later they were talking about lighter subjects, the make up of Paris and Doyle among them, even laughing at each other and the movies. Rory went to sleep in a much better mood, not looking forward to tomorrow but glad the day was over.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't surpising that Logan was in the apartment when they arrived a little after 11 o'clock. He was piled onto the couch holding onto a beer bottle with a few more scattered across the small table in front of him. He appeared to have woken up at the sound of the door opening after spending the night on the couch. Bleary-eyed, he turned towards the door.

"Ace, is that you?"

"Jeez, Logan you look awful, are you ok?" Rory started to move towards Logan but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Paris was stopping her from going any further, a look of sympathy in her eyes as she looked at her.

"Go upstairs and pack a bag of essentials, we will come back for the rest, you can't stay here." Paris then turned her attention to Logan and her sypathetic eyes turned to hateful ones.

Rory took her advice and heading straight to the bedroom to pack some things. She grabbed what clothes she would need, a couple of books to keep her occupied and anything she would need for Yale in the coming days. She heard a splash of water from downstairs and went down towards the stairs to see what was going on. It seemed that Paris had taken upon herself to sober Logan up by pouring a bucket of water over Logan. The scream that came from him told her the water must have been freezing.

"I'm back, got everything I need for a few days" Rory told Paris as she came walking down the stairs with the two bags of stuff that she had packed. "Lets get this place clened up a little before we go."

"No, we leave now, Logan is a big boy, he can clean his own mess." Paris steered Rory away from Logan before she could move in his direction.

They left with Paris practically pushing Rory out the door towards the car where Doyle waited for them.

* * *

"He looked a mess, beer bottles everywher"

"Oh, sweets. That must have been hard for you to see."

"I felt like I should have looked after him, made him feel better."

"I know you did"

"How would you feel about me coming for a visit, for a couple of days?"

"I'd love you to come, always happy to have you here."

"Thanks mum."

* * *

Stars Hollow hadn't changed at all, Rory was glad to see that, she loved her little town the way it was. Walking around she saw all the places she loved so much growing up here, she was glad to see Luke's as she turned a corner, she had missed his coffee and burgers. As she came towards the door her best friend came out to greet her instead, it seemed she hardly saw Lane anymore but she could see the utter joy on her face and she came out of the diner, Lane thrust her hand in front of Rory's face. At first she was confused and then it sunk in, the ring, how happy Lane was. As soon as the realisation hit they were both jumping up and down and squealing at the good news. They both headed back intot the diner to find that in typical Luke fashion, he hadn't shared the news despite being in the diner when it occured, so Lorelai was just as shocked by the news.

They all sat at a table and talked about her wedding and the plans she wanted to put in place, until she had to get back to work. Lorelai and Rory had an evening like the old ones they used to have, watching bad movies and eating junk food well into the night.

"Are you sure you're ok, with everything that happened the last couple of days?"

"Not really, I wish I didn't miss him as much as I do."

"I know sweets, it will get easier, you just need a little time"

"I have no time to wallow, I have too much stuff to do, but soon he will be graduating and then I suppose I never have to see him again"

"Do you think that will help any?"

"It's supposed to isn't it, out of sight, out of mind?"

"I honestly don't know, but I'll be here for you, if you need me"

"I always need you mum. Anyway, it's getting late, I should get some sleep."

"Busy day tomorrow?"

"Got some stuff I need to do"

"Alright, night sweets"

"Night mum."

* * *

Breakfast at Luke's was the best way to start the day, Rory found herself questioning how she managed to survive to Yale without them.

"Morning Rory"

"Luke, how have you been, we havent had chance to catch up?"

"Same old really, actually had something to ask you."

"Sure, ask away Luke."

"I don't want to do anything you might find awkward but Jess called and he mentioned not having any contact details for you, asked if he could have a cell number and an address for you. I told him I'd have to ask you, see if you minded him contacting you, I wasn't sure what terms you were on."

Luke hadn't realised Rory had got into a minor state of shock after hearing Jess's name, things hadn't ended well the last time they'd talked, thanks to Logan. She realised that Luke was now expecting an answer from her.

"Oh, that' fine, we weren't on the best of terms. But if he wants to contact me it might be a good sign."

"Ok, I'll call him and give him your details."

"Thanks Luke, I've got to go, coffee for the road?"

Luke just chuckled and got Rory a cup of coffee in a to go cup.

* * *

"Leave my post-its alone!"

"It's just a few post-its Michel!"

"No, they are a part of my system and now the piles are out balance becuase you keep using my pink ones, now stop it."

"Jeez, Michel I'm only using a few"

Lorelai came around the corner to see the argument come to a head between the two of them.

"Lorelai, your daughter is stealing from this establishment"

"Not the post-its again Michel"

Both the women chuckled at Michel as he was visibly annoyed by the interaction. Lorelai came around to link arms with her daughter and walk with her out of the Dragonfly. They sat on the swing on the front porch of the building, just enjoying each others company.

"I think I need to be heading home in a few hours, lots of work to do."

"Sure sweets, do you think you can wait until tonight, we can get pizza before you havae to leave?"

"Of course, I'll see you back at the house in a couple of hours, I'll get my stuff ready so I can go once we've eaten."

* * *

The evening with her mum had been great, she always felt better after seeing her. The heartbreak over Logan seemed further behind her than they did just a few days before, she missed him a little less now and felt more dislike for him after hearing the bad things her mum had always thought about him but had kept to herself for her sake.

As she was getting back into the apartment Rory's phone started ringing, it was an unknown number so she was slow to decide but answered it. She recognised the voice and instantly saw the crooked smile that went with it.

 _Jess_

"Hey, Rory?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, Rory?"

Rory was shocked into silence by the sound of his voice, she missed talking to him.

"Rory, are you there?"

"Ah, yes. Hi, hello. Yes it's Rory. Jess?" Rory realised she was talking fast but couldn't help herself. She heard a light chuckle on the other end of the line.

"Yeah it's me, Luke gave me your number."

"I know, he asked me if he could give it to you while I was there yesterday."

"I didn't know you visited, how was the old Hollow?"

"Same as always, doesn't change any over the years."

"Not surprising, I don't get down as much as I'd like but it never changes much."

"I didn't know you visited at all, it makes sense I guess with Luke and your little sister there now."

"I try to every now and again, see Luke for a bit and Doula, she's getting bigger now but she's a great kid."

"You know, I've never seen you with a child, not even Doula, I can't imagine it." It was Rory who found herself chuckling at the image in her head now.

"Hey, I've never been against children, I'm actually pretty good with Doula." He tried to sound indignant but he found the turn the conversation had gone to be amusing too.

"I remember how you were with Clara at the Winter Carnival."

"That was years ago, and she was incredibly annoying." Jess rembered that day, he was just a young punk back then and Dean was getting on his last nerve as well as that little sister of his never shutting up.

"I suppose I'll let you off, I don't doubt that you're great with Doula."

"Next time I'm planning a visit, I'll let you know and you can meet her for yourself." Jess wasn't really sure what made him say those words, this conversation hadn't gone the way he wanted at all and suddenly he was inviting her to meet his little sister. Rory was clearly flustered by the invitation as well.

"Um, sure. Let me know and I suppose I'll see if I can make it down there."

The conversation had come to an awkward lull, neither wanting to stop talking but not knowing the next thing to say either.

"So, the address-"

"So, how have-"

"Sorry, you go first." Rory felt the blush go up her cheeks as they both tried to talk at once.

"No, ladies first, I insist." He could picture her blushing on the other end of the phone, he knew she needed the distraction of a conversation right away.

"I was just going to ask how you've been, how is it at Truncheon?" Rory realised when she said it that it was just an excuse to keep talking, and what he was saying was probably more important, likely what he had actually called to tell her.

"It's going well, Matt and Chris still getting at me to write another book, but I still love working there."

"That's great, are you thinking of writing another?"

"Thinking about it, the words haven't come yet though"

"I'm sure they will, you're a great writer, I'm already looking forward to reading another book by you." Rory heard the laugh clearly at that, he was always very humble when he came to his writing.

"You and your pom-poms, I'll be sure to let you know if I write another book."

"No pom-poms, and thank you"

"Anyway, I see your address had changed from your grandparents, I'm glad you got out of there." He had said it just to get the conversation away from him and his writing.

"Yeah, I moved out, I'm back at Yale now. All thanks to you really, and the conversation we had last time you were here."

"I know I was harsh but I'm glad I got through, glad you are back at school."

"Me too, was that why you asked for my address, to see if I'd left?" Jess chuckled again at the accusation.

"No, I asked so I could send you something, an invite to the open house at Truncheon."

"I'll let you know when it arrives then."

"Ok, I suppose I should get going, its getting late."

"Keep in touch, you have my number now, text or call."

"I will, I'll talk to you soon"

"Goodbye Jess"

"Goodbye Rory"

* * *

Jess sat on his bed looking at his phone after he hung up, he was glad you had sent the invite to her and called her. He'd almost forgotten how easy it was to talk to her, how conversation just flowed and topics kept coming to them. He'd missed that, he never met anyone else he could just talk to like that, now they were back in contact he didn't want to lose that again. He made his way onto his desk where his laptop sat, he found the words came to him then and disn't stop, he kept typing as the words flew through his mind. He was there into the early hours of the morning when finally his eyes were too tired to continue typing and he could see himself making mistakes, he wasn't sure if anything he wrote in the last hour was going to be worth keeping in the end. As he got up to go to his bed he realised he hadn't asked Rory about the blond dick at Yale, he wondered if they were still together. As he fell asleep his last thought were of Rory and how he looked forward to seeing her at the open house.

* * *

Rory stayed sat on her bed after the conversation with Jess, she knew she should get an early night as she had a busy day tomorrow of lectures and paper duties. She was restless as she lay there, as she looked aroufn the room, it was still bare as she hadn't received the rest of her stuff from Logans yet. She looked in the bags she brought back and found _The Subsect_ was one of the books she had packe, she picked it up and began reading it. She had meant what she had told Jess, he was a wonderful writer and she loved reading his work, it was different from anything else she had read. She slowly fell asleep while ready, it drooping onto her chest as she dozed off, her last thoughts of the brown eyes and crooked smile she was looking forward to seeing.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Part of this chapter is going to be the text messages between Rory and Jess. The format is a strange one to write in but hopefully won't be difficult to read. Thank you so much for the reviews so far, I'm glad people are enjoying the story.**

* * *

Jess: Hey, trying the texting thing, I don't do it much but thought it might be an easier way for us to talk.

Rory: Hi, I don't text much either, but you're right it should be easier.

Jess: Just no smiley faces or abbreviations, please.

Rory: Deal.

Jess: Good.

Rory: Much planned for today?

Jess: Going over a manuscript for a client, later having to fix what I attempted writing last night.

Rory: You started writing something?

Jess: Tried to, turns out I'm useless when I'm tired.

Rory: Didn't go well then?

Jess: Some is usable, some is fixable, a lot of it will just have to scrapped though.

Rory: That sucks, at least you've got some to work with, that's progress.

Jess: Yeah it is, I know what sort of direction to take it in now.

Rory: That's good. I've got so much work to do for the paper right now, mind if I text you later, when I get back home?

Jess: Yeah sure, probably best I get some work done too, talk soon.

* * *

Rory: Hey, finally finished at the paper.

Jess: Hey, sorry for the late reply, I wasn't near my phone, how are you doing?

Rory: Thats alright, I was keeping myself busy with a certain book.

Jess: Oh, anything good?

Rory: One of the best, yours actually.

Jess: Not again, haven't you got bored of it yet.

Rory: Not yet, I can't see that happening any time soon either.

Jess: Other than reading a book you've already read more times than necessary, what else have you done with your day?

Rory: Busy day of boring lectures and the never ending drama of running the Yale Daily News.

Jess: You run that now?

Rory: Yeah, editor. Caused a rift between me and Paris that thankfully has been fixed now.

Jess: Paris Geller, the crazy one from Chilton, wouldn't blame you for doing anything to cause a rift there.

Rory: She's actually been great, I'm living with her now, it's bad for my blood pressure but she's a good friend deep down.

Jess: She didn't seem too bad, a bit intense but at least you have a good friend with you.

Rory: Yeah I do, her boyfriend is just as crazy but they are kind of perfect for each other.

Jess: He'd have to be as crazy as her to make it work.

Rory: Oh he is, they are currently practicing Krav Maga, very loudly in our living room.

Jess: That sounds interesting, and annoying for you. What exactly is Krav Maga?

Rory: Some sort of Isreali self-defence, they've taken it upon themselves to learn.

Jess: Why would they need that?

Rory: This neighbourhood isn't the best but it's Paris and her usual paranoia.

Jess: As long as you're safe there, have you learnt any self-defence?

Rory: It's really not necessary but thank you for your concern.

Jess: Ok, as long as you're sure.

Rory: I am, I've got to go, my mum wanted me to call her tonight and it's later than I thought.

Jess: I'm glad you are talking to your mum again. I should get some work done as well before it's too late for me to be useful again. I'll talk to you soon.

* * *

"Hey sweets, I thought you'd forgotten about me." Even though the sadness was faked in Lorelai's versions there was a real question behind the statement and Rory could hear it. She told her mum everything but she wasn't sure how she would react to her talking to Jess again.

"I could never forget about you, I was just busy this evening."

"Busy doing what, or do I not want to know?"

"I'm not actually sure if you would."

"Now your scaring mummy, have you been doing something bad?"

"No mum, nothing you need to worry about, but possibly something you won't like."

"I don't want to go back to you not being able to talk to me." Rory felt instantly bad for bringing those months back up, it was hard not to talk to her mum about things that were important and she knew she could tell her anything without judgment.

"I don't want that either, it's just that I've been back in contact with Jess for a couple of days." She waited for her mum's response and was pleasantly surprised to her mum laugh through the phone.

"Luke told me Jess had asked for your details, I figured he'd been in contact by now. Why would you think I would be so against that?"

"Well, you've never been Jess's biggest fan, I thought you'd dislike us talking again."

"I didn't like him when he was the young punk of a kid with a chip on his shoulder, he seemed like the guy who would break your heart, and I wasn't wrong. But it's not like you're getting back together, Luke tells me he is doing well for himself now, isn't the boy he once was. After you telling me his role in getting you back to me and to Yale as well, did you really think I'd still harbor a grudge against him?"

"I guess not, I just always remember how much you hated him when we were together."

"He played a part in breaking your wrist, I would have hated anyone."

"It was a fracture, and an accident."

"Yes I know but I was emotional, you'd been hurt and then he hurt you again by leaving."

"Well, as you say, he's changed now, grown up."

The rest of the phone calls the girls talked about everything that was happening in Stars Hollow, including the horror that was Mrs Kim's old wedding dress and how Lorelai was having to fix it so Lane could wear it.

* * *

Rory: Morning, guess what arrived in my post this morning?

Jess: Morning, has your mum finally found a way to send her self to you by post?

Rory: No, and don't go giving her ideas about that. Your invitation arrived.

Jess: Oh, that.

Rory: Yes that, luckily I happen to be free at the weeekend so I'll be there.

Jess: That's good, I look forward to seeing you there.

Rory: I look forward to seeing you too.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I want to start by thank Nancy and the other Guest for reviewing as I can't reply to you personally, I'm glad the story is being enjoyed.**

 **Secondly I want to apologise in advance, I won't be able to post any updates until Tuesday, but I'm going to attempt to make up for it today by uploading a few chapters, I don't want to rush anything though so we will see how far I get.**

* * *

The next few days passed slowly for Jess, he was looking forward to the open house but he also had a dull ache in the pit of his stomach at the thought of it. He knew it was just the nerves, after showing Matt and Chris a draft of the first few chapters of his new book they were insistant on a reading by him. They still had to organise the place to hold the open house and set up other readers for the evening, Jess was hoping they would get enough of them that he simply wouldn't have time to do his reading.

Him and Rory texted, almost constantly now, he was enjoying talking to her and they were becoming good friends again. He hadn't brought up the question of the blond dick, it seemed a good sign that Rory was living with Paris but he didn't want to ask for fear of an answer he wouldn't like, instead he had kept the conversation to lighter topics and Rory went along with them. He was looking forward seeing her again, the nerves came in full force at the thought of her hearing her him read.

"Jess!"

"Hmm, what's that?"

"Jeez Jess, we've been saying your name for the last five minutes, what's got you all distracted?" Matt was laughing almost outright at the look on Jess's face.

"Sorry, just thinking about how we will layout the room."

"Oh bull, and you know it. I know you don't want to read on Saturday, but it's really good and it will build anticipation for the book, we are already waiting for more." Chris had joined the conversation now after moving the last table out the way. "And the layout is already sorted, given us two have been shifting all the stuff out of the way while you've been spaced out."

"Sorry, I was supposed to be helping, guess I got lost in thought." Jess genuinely felt bad for leaving all the grunt work to the two of them, he came down with the idea of getting out of his head by moving things around. "I don't even know when the book will be ready, it could be years before I finish."

"It's alright, there wasn't much left to do anyway. As for the book, it will get done quickly if you stay at the same pace and you know you can't stop now you've got started." Chris said matter-of-factly, he knew Jess well enough to know the truth behind the words. "We don't have to worry about your part in the evening. However the poet you have coming is another matter." He now turned his attention to Matt.

"He will be fine, I have all the stuff lined out for him and I'll make sure he doesn't go off script."

"You've said that before, Matt. He's known for doing it, I don't even know why we still get him to do readings."

"I've spoken to him and he will be fine, you have my word."

With that, the conversation changed to the order of reading and the guest list for the day.

* * *

"Right, today is the day! Are we sure everything is ready?" Matt was far too cheerful for the early hour of the day but given it was a big day Jess let him off for the excitement, he was less forgiving of him barging into his apartment without any warning.

"What are you doing in my apartment?!"

"Waking you up, I figured you'd still be asleep, I've already called Chris and he will be here in 10 minutes"

"You couldn't have just called me?"

"We had to come here anyway and figured it was easier, get ready and we will meet you downstairs in a few minutes."

He really had to move out of the place above the store, it was way too easily accessed. Once he was dressed he headed downstairs to see Chris had arrived, they spent the morning putting finishing touches to Truncheon and their plan for the evening before heading out. The plan was to stay out of Truncheon until shortly before the open house, they all knew that Chris had the tendency to over-think everything and they would end up with a completely new plan which would result in everything falling apart. 5 o'clock arrived too soon for Jess's liking, they had to get themselves ready for the open house starting on an hour.

* * *

Rory hated being late, at least it wasn't by much but when she arrived at Truncheon at 6:15 the open house seemed to be in full swing. She instantly fell in love with the place, as she looked around she saw shelf upon shelf of books, they gave the space a homey, warm feel. She was instantly comfortable as she walked further into room, she was glad to see so many people had turned up and seemed to be enjoying themselves, it bode well for Jess and his friends.

She then saw the crooked smile she had always loved so much. Before she had really registered what was happening she felt his arms go around her and herself wrap her arms around him in return. The hug was short but both seemed to be reluctant to end it as they stepped away from each other, Rory found herself grateful that he kept one of his hands on her forearm.

"Hi, I'm glad you came."

"I am too, I love this place already, makes me feel creative." Rory could see the urge to laugh build behind Jess's eyes at her statement, both of them knew she wasn't exactly creative.

"Well, I'm glad you like it, I'll watch out for any creative outbursts from you." Both of them couldn't help but laugh lightly at that.

"Luke is here?" As they went around the corner she saw him with a young girl that she assumed was the daughter, April.

"Yeah, he dropped by."

They went over and had a short conversation with them both, Rory found April smart and she could see resemblance between her and Luke. Luke seemed the same with April as he was with her at that age, slightly awkward but caring. Rory found it sweet that he had taken to having a relationship with her and more than a little amusing that she found similarities between that and her own relationship with him. Luke told them he had to leave, they had only wanted to drop in brielfy.

"He's proud of you, you know?"

"He may have mentioned that, alongside the awkward man hug he gave me, he's the same Luke as always." Jess wouldn't ever say it outright but he was happy he finally deserved his uncles praise, he was the only one who ever really believed in him, who tried to help him do well in his life. Well, him and Rory.

"Hey, there you are, nearly your turn." Chris had been trying to find Jess amongst the crowd for the duration of the last reading. "And, who's this?"

"Chris, I was hoping you'd forget about getting me up there. This is Rory. Rory, this Chris, one of my partners here." Jess was hoping Chris wouldn't make it obvious he had heard her name before, thankfully Chris had a small amount of sense and though his eyes widened in shock and recognition he didn't make it too obvious and Rory hadn't noticed.

"Hi, there. No I hadn't forgotten, now get over there."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Rory thought Chris seemed nice enough. "You're going up there to read something?" The thought shocked Rory, Jess wasn't known for sharing his work, especially to large crowds, it would have taken some convincing.

"Yes I am, don't go anywhere before I have a chance to say goodbye?"

"Of course not, I'll be around, wouldn't miss your reading anyway."

That didn't help Jess's nerves on the matter but he went around to the reading area anyway to wait for the poet to finish, he knew the passage he would read but now he questioned if it was the right one, there was no going back now though, as he went up to the microphone and took the piece paper out of his jacket so he could read it. As he looked into the gathering of people around him his eyes picked out hers, bright blue and staring straight at his.

"Hi, Jess Mariano here. Reading a small passage from an unfinished and yet untitled book I'm working on."

 _As he looked at her he felt the love for her grow, it felt ever growing within him. Next came the pain, it was forever growing too. He knew he would live with any pain he needed to in order to stay there, with her. Looking into her eyes he saw the pain reflected there, he had hoped he would see the love he felt reflected also but any remnants of that seemed long gone now. So many things he wanted to say in this moment but he couldn't bring any of them forward, instead he just stared, drinking in the sight of her, he never wanted to lose the image in his mind of her beauty. He may have been able to live with his pain through anything but he knew he couldn't live with the pain he gave her. He hated being the cause of that, knowing she was hurting because he was there. At least he could fix that, he could leave. He would suffer that pain for her, he would suffer it all if it meant that look left her eyes forever._

As he looked up from his paper, he saw Rory wasn't where she was stood before, he then noticed that he was being applauded for his reading. He stepped away from the microphone to allow another poet to take his place for his own reading. He spent the evening walking around the guests making conversation about work and books. He hadn't caught any sight of Rory since before his reading, when other guested started leaving he worried she had left without a goodbye anyway.

As the last few guests were leaving he looked round to see her sat in a mostly hidden corner with a book, she looked so like the teenage Rory he had known years ago, it brought back so many memories of those years.

* * *

"Don't tell me your reading that again." He had made sure to walk up loudly enough that his voice hadn't scared her but he had noticed the book in her hands was _The Subsect._ "Didn't you just finish it?"

"I found a copy on a desk shoved in the corner, I can't believe you put notes in the margins of your own book." She chuckled softly at the idea.

"Old habits and all, I'd change a lot of things if I had the chance now."

"Well, I love it, even if you don't and you're reading was just as good."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Very much looking forward to reading your new book."

"It will be a while yet." He felt a slight blush on his cheeks at the compliment and looked down to hide it.

"Anyway, I'm glad things are better with you at home now."

"Me too, speaking of which, I suppose I best be heading back to New Haven."

"You're driving back tonight, you realise it's gone 10, you won't get back until the early hours of the morning?"

"Crap, it's that late?" She was shocked to see how late it was, time got away from her, she was having a good time, mostly watching Jess walk around as he talked to different people.

"Yeah, seems you lost track of time."

"I'll find a hotel and crash before I leave first thing then."

"You could always stay here?" He honestly had no idea what made those words come from his lips, he saw her eyes widen and turn slighly confused at the implication. "I live in the apartment upstairs, you can crash here, I don't mind staying on the couch for a night."

"I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You're not, I'm offering."

"If you're sure, it might be easier."

"Of course." He wasn't sure if it would be the best idea but he was already in too deep now anyway. "The guys invited you along for the celebratory drink at the bar down the road, if you feel up to it, we won't be out long."

"Yeah sure, they both seem great."

Rory wasn't sure she had made the right decision by staying the night at Jess's apartment but he'd offered and he was right that it was an easier answer than trying to find a hotel at this time and she liked the idea of spending more time with him and his friends before she had to go back.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Wow, that last chapter kind of got away from me there, I wanted to do the open house and didn't realise how much writing that would take. Anyway, I promised a few chapters today so onto the next.**

* * *

Rory enjoyed the company of Matt and Chris, they were funny and well-read, even if they insisted on Hemingway being one of the best authors, much to Jess's delight. They talked well into the night and Rory found it refreshing to notice they each only had two beers before switching to soft drinks, after the fast paced and constant drinking of Logan and his friends. It was only when Matt looked at his watch and noticed with shock that it was gone midnight that the group broke up, Matt and Chris both giving Rory a small hug before leaving them. She noticed Matt leaned in to whisper something into Jess's ear, to which he seemed shocked and pushed him away.

"Come on, let's get back to my place?" He stepped towards Rory and lightly placed a hand on her arm.

"Yeah, let's go"

They talked little on the walk back but Rory was very aware of how close Jess was to her, she could feel the heat of him next to her even though the night was a chilly one. It was a short walk back and they were soon back at Truncheon where Jess unlocked the door and held it open for her to go inside in front of him. He locked the door behind her and turned around to see Rory had already focused her attentions back onto the bookshelves that were around the walls. He watched for a few minutes before she started to feel his gaze on her and she turned.

"Sorry."

"What are you apologising for?"

"It's late and I'm keeping you up by staring at books that I've seen all night." She looked almost nervous and as she spoke a blush came up her cheeks.

"You never have to apologise, I've always known your love for books, I find it calming to just be here, surrounded by books sometimes." Rory smiled at that, he knew her well enough to know she felt the same way about being around books.

"Well, we can't stay here all night, we both need sleep if I'm going to be leaving at a reasonable hour tomorrow."

"That's true enough."

* * *

Jess's apartment was small and tidy, he didn't keep many personal items laying around but the ones he did have there meant something deep to him. As Rory looked around she saw books in small piles, clearly sorted somehow, the ones that couldn't fit on shelves, she saw a couple of picture frames sat near the window, one of a young blonde girl, she figured was Doula, and one of Jess with Luke stood next to him. That made Rory quietly chuckle under her breath, they both looked awkward and unhappy at having a picture of them taken but with them both in the same pose, they looked so alike. The surprising thing she found was a book on the coffee table in front of the couch, _The Fountainhead,_ she picked it up and flicked through to see how far he'd made it, it was easier to see by the notes, they stopped about half-way through the book.

Jess just stood by the door and watched Rory as she walked around, he wasn't surprised to see her look at the pictures and chuckle, seeing him and Luke like that had made him laugh too when he had first seen the picture. He noticed her attention had been caught by the book on his coffee table, he was never going to hear the end of this one.

"Decided to try again, not finding it much better."

"Uh-uh, I'll make you see my way one day, I can see you aren't hating it though, you're notes show that."

He moved up to her to take it from her hands and put it back on the table, he noticed this was as close as they had gotten all night. So close he could have kissed her. The thought had shocked him, he'd kept those thoughts buried deep for quite some time now. He ran his fingers through his hair as he moved away from her.

"The bedroom is this way." He walked her through a door into a small bedroom, it had a double bed, bedside table and some drawers but nothing else in the way of furniture. Books littered the floor in here too. "Here, you can wear these tonight if you like, I guess you didn't bring anything as you weren't planning on staying, I have a new toothbrush that you can use in the morning, the bathroom is the next door along."

He had grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a Metallica t-shirt for her to sleep in from the drawers, he'd grabbed a pair of sweatpants for himself to wear as well.

"Thanks, I feel bad for making you sleep on the couch, it doesn't look particularly comfortable or big enough for you to sleep on." She really did feel bad for kicking him out of his own bed, even if only for a night.

"It's fine really, I've slept on there before and it's only for one night." He ran his hands back through his hair again, he couldn't get rid of those thoughts now that they had re-entered his mind, he had to get out of the same room as her so he could straighten his thoughts.

Jess had seemed odd with her since coming back into his apartment, she thought for a moment that he was going to kiss her earlier but he quickly put distance between them and had kept it there since that moment, Rory couldn't find it in her to be happy for the distance, she wasn't sure what she wanted at the moment, her recent break-up was probably messing with her emotions, she hadn't felt this way about Jess for a long time. She got into the clothes he had gotten out for her and lay in the bed. It felt cold and big, it was no bigger than her bed back home but for some reason it felt that way. She couldn't sleep no matter what position she lay in.

Eventually she decided to go and get a glass of water, she knew she would have to make her way through the living room again, with Jess sleeping on the couch, but now the idea was in her head her mouth felt increasing dry. She opened the door and looked out into the living room, she saw a shape that must have been Jess on the couch under blankets, he seemed to be asleep so she left the bedroom as quietly as possible and made her way over to the kitchen area and the sink to fill a glass with water.

She hadn't heard him move but suddenly a hand was on her lower back, she jumped slightly but she recognised the touch instantly as Jess and felt herself lean into it, further back until half of her back was against half of his torso which she was surprised to realise wasn't covered, she felt his arm move around her waist, to her lower stomach as she leaned back. Silently they stood there embracing, neither wanting to move and the glass of water now forgotten on the counter. She was surprised to feel Jess's lips against her hair, then temple, she felt his head slowly move and then lips again on her neck. Without thinking she moved her head to give him more access to her neck and shoulder, he took advantage of this move by move his lips back and forth along the exposed skin. His hand held stronger now, holding her to him, his lips more insistant against her. Rory couldn't help the light moan that escaped her lips at the feel of his lips against her, when he heard it he froze for a second before turning her in his arms and finally taking her mouth by his. The kiss was firm but gentle against her and she could feel every inch of him flush against her body, and his hand made its way to the back of her neck, her hand ran along the length of his body, while the other ran through his hair at the base of his head, bringing out a small groan from his lips. The noise brought Rory back to her senses in a rush, she pulled away and moved out of arms reach in one movement.

"What are we doing, Jess?"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: As always, thank you for reading and reviews. The section of the book that Jess read was a small section of a story I wrote years ago, I hoped it would be suitable for a reading from him. That some parallels may have been made with story lines in previous series. Two chapters already today, possibly at least a couple more so watch this space.**

* * *

"What are we doing, Jess?"

Jess couldn't answer that, he didn't know what he was doing, he had seen her walk over to get a drink and couldn't help himself, everything he had once felt for her had come rushing back in those moments. He ran a hand through his hair as he turned away from her, the more he looked at her, in the half light of the apartment, the more he wanted to kiss her again and he couldn't do that, clearly she wanted conversation now.

"I don't know, Rory."

"That's a helpful answer, why did you come over here, I thought you were asleep?"

"No sarcasm, please. I didn't exactly come over with that in mind, if that's what you were asking."

"Sorry. I didn't think you did."

"Good. Doesn't stop it from happening though, is it always going to be this way with us, badly timed advances and being shot down, followed by no contact until the next round?"

"Jess..."

"It happens every time, we keep going round in circles."

"We do, but we need to break the cycle."

"How?"

"By really finding out what we want, from each other."

"We can't do that now, in the early hours of the morning, with no sleep or plan."

Rory seemed to realise how tired she was a those words, it was close to 3 in the morning now.

"You're right, we need sleep." She didn't want to go back into that bedroom, she couldn't get comfortable in the bed. "I couldn't sleep, couldn't get comfortable in there."

Jess stepped closer to her at the sound of her discomfort, he hated to see her like that, she looked so tired and vulnerable.

"Would it help if I stayed in there until you fell asleep?"

"It's like I'm a child, but yes it would actually help, I haven't been sleeping well lately."

"I'm happy to do it, come on."

Jess lead her silently into the bedroom and lay her down in the bed and pulled the blankets over her, he sat on the end of the bed.

"Come lay down with me?"

He knew he would never refuse her anything in that moment, he climbed under the blanket beside her and gently put a hand over her waist.

"Is this ok?"

"Yes, thank you."

"It's alright, try to sleep now, I'll be here."

Rory drifted into a sleep full of dreams all with one thing in common; Jess.

* * *

His lips met hers with strength, she could feel his arms working their way up her back, felt the heat from him across her whole body. She was rolled until he was hovering above her, his lips never leaving hers, his hands still feeling her sensitive skin along her thighs and waist, there was no stopping the moans it brought out in her. She moved her own hands along his skin, felt the toned muscles of his torso, and the curls in his hair.

Suddenly she woke, surprised at the tone of her dream and how real it had felt to her. She still felt Jess's arm wound around her waist, during the night they had ended up closer together, she could feel him against her, his body was pressed against hers. She turned slightly in his arms so she could see his face, he seemed so peaceful in sleep, at rest. She realised that she had never seen him sleep, she hadn't noticed any of the snoring her mum had once mentioned. He stirred slightly in his sleep, almost as if he felt her eyes on him. His eyes opened slowly to find hers looking into them.

"Good Morning. I'm sorry, I hadn't meant to stay here all night, guess I was more tired than I thought." Jess shifted as if to get up, but Rory put a hand on his arm to hold him where he was.

"It's alright, I slept better than I have in weeks." She saw concern on Jess's face at that statement but he didn't press for details.

"Would you like some breakfast?" He laughed at the look on Rory's face at the question. "Right, ask a stupid question, a Gilmore always wants food."

He bent his head and kissed her softly before getting up and making his was to the kitchen to start breakfast, it wasn't until he'd left the room that he realised what he had done. Rory sat shocked by the casual intimacy displayed by him in that moment but decided not to question the motives, at least not yet. She slowly got out the bed and made her way to the bathroom next door.

"Something smells good!"

"Pancakes and bacon."

"I didn't know you could cook?"

"I picked some things up at Luke's"

They sat down to eat their breakfast and coffee, Rory noticed Jess had covered himself with a t-shirt since waking up, looking at him she found it hard not to think about the dream she had just proir to waking. As a result she felt a blush rise up her face. He looked at her questioningly, making it clear he had noticed the blush.

"These are really good, almost as good as Luke's."

"Very high praise, I'm glad you like it."

"So much for me leaving at a reasonable hour." Rory had looked at her watch as she finished her pancakes. "It's already coming on 11."

Jess just nodded at that, he started clearing up the table. He worried she was going to leave without answering the questions that last night had left in the air. He took it as a good sign that she hadn't changed out of the clothes she slept in, she didn't plan on leaving right now.

"Do you have to get back early?"

"Not really, I hadn't planned on staying past last night, but I don't have much I need to do."

"Good, the store is closed today so I have the day off, we can spend the afternoon doing whatever you'd like."

"What do you like to do on your days off?"

"Well, I mostly stay in, write or watch tv, there are things to do outside as well though, depends what you feel like doing?"

"Staying in sounds good, you can write if ideas come, I can keep myself occupied while you do." Jess laughed at how true that was, he knew Rory wouldn't mind him leaving her to write.

"I have no ideas for writing right now anyway. I'm all yours." The last sentence came out much more passionatly then he meant or expected it to, Rory noticed it too but seemed to not want to question it.

"Movies it is then?"

"Alright, feel free to pick one from my collection, it's small but I'm sure you'll find something you'll enjoy."

Rory was glad for their similar tastes in movies as she looked at Jess's collection, he was right that it was small but it was made up of mostly favourites of hers and ones she knew Jess loved. She picked out a movie that was a favourite of both of theirs.

As Jess sat down he recognised the movie she had put on, a smile came to his lips as he remembered the last time they had watched this movie together, he wondered if she remembered the day they spent on her couch kissing and touching, discovering while the movie played in the background. By the way a swift blush came to her cheeks as the movie started, he assumed she was beginning to remember very well. He didn't want her feeling awkward so he kept a small distance between them as he lounged back on the couch, he was still waiting for her to bring up the conversation from last night.

Rory relaxed quickly, she found it was easy to relax with Jess, she had always felt comfortable with him. She knew the conversation from last night needed to be continued at some point, she also knew Jess wasn't going to bring it up, he was waiting for her, that was why he had invited her to stay the afternoon, if she had any idea what she actually wanted it would be an easier conversation.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Last one for tonight, apologies again for the long break that is coming but I hope you've all enjoyed the chapters for today and as always, please review, I love to hear opinion.**

* * *

"Right, I'm done waiting, we need to have this conversation." Jess surprised even himself by the outburst, the day had gotten increasingly awkward with him any Rory barely looking at each other, she hadn't brought up the conversation again so he had to in the end.

"I know, I've been trying to come up with something to say, a way to resolve anything, I haven't come up with anything though, have you?"

"What exactly needs resolving?"

"We do, I thought that was the point of the conversation?"

"Ok, so what have you been thinking?"

"That I don't know what I want from this, from us, what we can even have from this?"

"I don't suppose it can just be simple between us can it?"

"When has it ever been that?" Jess chuckled at that, she wasn't wrong, through all their past, it was certainly never simple.

"Alright, so no matter how complicated it may seem right now, what do you want?"

"I don't know, I'm literally just out of a relationship, I can't just jump into a new one."

"Ok, so we go slowly, tread carefully, nothing too serious too quickly. We carry on as we are, talking, calling, texting, and when you feel more ready we will start planning visits, seeing each other, and a relationship if that's what you want it to be."

"And until then, you just sit around and wait for me? I can't ask you to do that."

"Then don't, we are just friends, we are both open to date whoever we want in a meantime." He saw a flash something in her eyes before she hid it, he couldn't be sure of what it was but he thought he saw a touch of hurt. He took hold of her hands, he hated seeing even the smallest amount of hurt in her eyes. "However, I don't want anyone else, while I can't promise anything especially since there is no promise you'll want me in return, I can't see me finding someone who could make me willing to give this up."

Rory smiled at that, she understood why he said what he did, but part of her still didn't like the idea of him with someone else. She knew he always had girls, women flirting with him, it had always been that way with Jess but the look in his eyes told her he was being honest about the extent of his feeling for her.

* * *

It had once again got later than they had planned, after the conversation was done they settled into comfortable conversation about books and music, watched more movies and ordered a take-out for dinner. Jess had loved having her there and was glad they had found their way back to the old comfortable way they used to be, he was happy they had resolved what awkwardness there was between them, he couldn't say he was entirely happy with the outcome but he understood Rory's need to wait. He led her back out to her car, it was after 7 when both of them had to admit she needed to get on the road if she was going to make it back to Yale at a reasonable time.

"Call me when you get back?"

"Yeah of course."

"Hopefully you've missed most of the problematic traffic by now so shouldn't be back to late."

"I hope so, but I'll call you even if it's late, I promise."

"Good."

Jess leaned in and kissed her strongly, he knew they had agreed that nothing would happen yet but he couldn't let her go without the reminder that he was there and this was what he wanted, he was glad when she returned the kiss in force, reaching up to wrap her hand in his hair, to pull him closer. The kiss wasn't a long one but it left both of them breathless as they pulled away. Jess reached around and opened her door for her.

"Goodbye Rory. I'll talk to you soon."

"Goodbye Jess, as soon as I get home."

Rory got into her car and drove off, when she had been driving for about 10 minutes she dialled a number and put it on speaker. She was glad when her mum answered the phone.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Well, I'm back and hopefully the next chapters go down as well as my previous ones. As always, please continue to review, I love to hear opinions of the readers.**

* * *

"Well hun, you seem to be missing a big point here." Rory had told her mum pretty much everything that had happened over the weekend, hoping for a little advice on her situation with Jess.

"What point is that?"

"Look, I hate being the big supporter of Jess, but it's pretty clear he's crazy about you and you've always had a huge connection with him. He isn't going to wait forever, I know he's always had his admirers and even as much as he wants to be with you, he's going to get sick of it eventually. What's holding you back?"

"I just broke up with Logan, I can't just start a new relationship of the back of that."

"If you'd said that you don't feel ready for a relationship then I'd agree, but you didn't, why do you think you can't?"

"It's too early, I'm not over it all yet."

"Answer honestly, in the last week, how often has Logan even crossed your mind?"

"That's not the point, mum."

"Ok, I'm not going to tell you want to do in this, it has to be your decision in the end, but my advice is to give Jess a little more than just a possibility at some point in the future."

"I'll give that some thought, I just don't know what else I can do."

"That's up to you. I know I didn't always support Jess in the past but Luke says he is doing much better, visits fairly often but I think he plans it so I'm not around when he does. You can tell him he doesn't need to do that, I won't bite."

"I'll tell him but he still think you hate him, you made a lasting impression."

"I know but if you're going to trying again with him then I'd like to start fresh with him."

"I'll keep it in mind and do what I can. I've got enough on my mind now anyway, how are the plans for Lane's wedding coming, I've hardly seen her since the engagment and I'm supposed to be her maid of honour."

"It's all going great, you'll be here Thursday won't you, for the bachelorette party?"

"Actually Wednesday night, I've got everything set up here for the paper to run while I'm away."

"That's great. You'll have plenty of time to catch up with Lane before she walks down the aisle."

"Good. I should get going, I'll let you know when I get back home."

"Ok, try to fix things with Jess, and I'll talk to you later."

"I'll try, talk soon."

The rest of the journey Rory spent listening to music and trying to think of ways to make things better with Jess.

* * *

Rory made it back to her apartment to see Paris sat in the living room watching some tv, she looked up as soon Rory entered. The look in her eyes told Rory that she had many questions for her about the weekend, none of which she wanted to answer right now.

"Hey Paris."

"Hey, how was your weekend away?"

"Saw an old friend, caught up, lost track of time so spent the night, not much to tell, now I've got to go to bed, busy few days if I'm going to make it back to Stars Hollow Wednesday evening." She said it all in a rush adn she could tell Paris wasn't buying it.

"Uh-uh, I dont believe a word of that, but fine. You can spill it all when you're ready to." She smiled at Rory with understanding. "Something else to tell you though, while you were away me and Doyle took charge and got all your stuff from Logan's place, he wasn't happy but it's all out now. At least everything you had put on that list in your room."

"Wow, Paris thank you, I wasn't expecting that, I thought I'd have to go over there again."

"Well, now you don't."

"Thanks, goodnight."

"Night."

Rory went into her room to see it mostly filled with boxes, would be something for her to deal with before she left on Monday. She sat on her bed, got out her cell phone and called Jess.

"Hey, made it home then?"

"Yeah, you were right, I missed most of the traffic."

"That's good. I hope your mum is doing well." Rory chuckled at that, he knew her so well.

"Yeah she's good."

"I'm sure she had plenty to say about the weekend."

"She did. Probably not what you are expecting though."

"Oh, how do you know what I'm expecting?"

"I know you well enough and your previous relationship with my mum, you're expecting her to say to stay away from you and not give this a chance."

"That sounds about right actually." Jess sounded slightly bitter at that, it had always been a sore spot that he had never got the approval of Lorelai.

"Well, you'll be surprised to hear she said pretty much the exact opposite."

"Really?" Rory laughed out loud at the surprise in his voice.

"And to tell you not to keep dodging her when you come to see Luke, she wouldn't mind seeing you."

"Huh." Jess was genuinely surprised by her interest but realised he shouldn't be, anyone who has the chance to be with Rory, Lorelai would want to meet and hope to connect with. "I'll do what I can with that."

"I'll be seeing her at the end of this week so I'll let her know you said so."

"Another visit, I know you love the place but weren't you just there?"

"I was but I have a wedding to get to this Friday, Lane is getting married."

"Wow, good for her."

"You'd be welcome to come, if you happened to have a day free, Lane would be happy to have you there, you always got along." Rory hadn't planned on inviting him but it felt right in the moment, she realised that she wanted to see him again.

"I'd have to check but I might be able to, if you're sure I could just crash the wedding like that."

"I can check with Lane if you like but I'm sure you'd be fine to come. I'll be in Stars Hollow from Wednesday, just arrive whenever you can before Friday morning."

"I'll let you know once I speak to the guys and I know when I'd be able to get down." He hadn't expected the invitation but he was glad to have it and was looking forward to going if he was able to.

"Ok, I'll let you know what Lane says about you tagging along."

"Early morning so I'm going to get going, it was really good seeing you this weekend."

"It was really good to see you too. Hopefully I'll see you again in a few days."

"I hope so. Goodnight Rory."

"Goodnight Jess."


	10. Chapter 10

The next few days went by in a blur for Rory, she had got in touch with Lane and Jess was officially invited, he had told her he would arrive Thursday evening at the latest, Luke was going to be out of town so he was able to stay above the diner. Rory had spent most of the time getting everything she would need ready before she left, the argument for who would take control of the Yale Daily News had been long and excruciating for her. In the end she had agreed Paris and Bill would both be taking on additional duties while neither being in complete control, neither were happy with the outcome but neither were exceptionally upset with it either. On Wednesday she made sure everything was set for her time away and that she would come back to all the notes she would need to any lectures missed, she had everything set up so she wouldn't need to worry about anything but her best friends wedding for the next few days.

* * *

"I'm a disappointment to mothers all over again." Rory had just got out of her car in the late afternoon in front of her mums house, and was surprised to see this was first thing her mum said to her.

"What have you done now, it can't be the teenage pregnancy thing again?"

"Ha, no. I haven't got a date for the wedding and apparently I need one or I can't go."

"Oh, well I'm sure we can find you someone."

"In two days, this is what happens when you plan a wedding in a week, how can anyone do find someone to go with?" Her mum had reached rambling mode and she knew she wasn't going to stap talking for the rest of the evening and so just walked around her to get herself indoors while still half listening to her mum.

"It's ok mum, we aren't going to let you miss this wedding, we will find you someone, I promise."

"Easy for you to say, you've managed to get yourself a date."

"Not really a date, we haven't really discussed what it is given we are just friends for now."

"Yeah well, it's better than being alone."

Rory and Lorelai spent the evening talking about the wedding and bachelorette party the following night. Lorelai had made a pile of wedding themed movies for the days that they were together, they picked out a few and put together a table full of food to eat for the duration of the evening.

* * *

Jess woke up on Thursday with Rory on his mind, he would be seeing her soon, he had to finish a small amount of work and then he would be able to go. He had stayed up well into the early hours of the morning to get more work done so he could leave earlier. He was thankful when he managed to finished what work he had left, he went downstairs to tell Matt and Chris that he was heading out.

"Right, I'm out of here. I'll be back at some point before Monday." He wanted out of there before too many questions were asked.

"Tell Rory we say hi, and no breaking her heart while you are out there, we actually like this one." Chris smiled as he said it but there was a ring of truth in what he said, any girl he had dated in the years he's been with them, they hadn't been able to stand.

"I'll let her know." Jess refused to rise to anything they said, he was used to them by now.

"Good, and tell her to visit us again soon." Matt liked Rory as much as Chris did, he was glad that his friends were so taken by her.

"I will, once again, I'm out of here. See you in a few days."

Jess turned and went straight out the door before they could say anything else about the weekend. It was only 10 o'clock in the morning so he was hours earlier than he had planned, he was hoping to surprise Rory by turning up early and possibly having some time just the two of them.

* * *

Rory hadn't heard from Jess all morning, but she assumed he was busy getting whatever work he had done before he had to leave. She hadn't had anything planned until that evening so she took to walking around the town, she found her way to one of her favourite spots. The bridge looked the same as always, it was so quiet here, it reminded her of the times she would come here with Jess, it was one of the places they used to love coming to. She sat on the edge of the bridge with her feet dangling down towards the river, she lay back flat on the bridge, closed her eyes and let the memories flow within her mind.

* * *

Jess arrived at Stars Hollow and went straight to the diner, he was glad it was after the lunch rush and the place was quiet. He said a quick hello to Caesar and went to drop his duffel bag up in the apartment before heading out again, he wanted to try to find Rory as soon as he could. He first went to the Gilmore house, it looked so much different than the first time he came here, and yet it felt the same to him, he remembered the first time here when he had met Rory for the first time, he was different now too. He went and knocked on the door but much to his disappointment there was no answer. He thought she might have gone to the inn with her mum but he wasn't ready for that meeting yet so instead he just walked around the town hoping they would cross paths along the way. He had no such luck and was starting to give up on the idea of some alone time with her when he made his way to the bridge and saw her shape draped across the edge of the bridge. She looked almost asleep laying there, so peaceful and without worry. He didn't want to disturb her but also didn't want to leave without talking to her, she stirred while laying there, he thought maybe she could feel his eyes on her. He was aware of her opening her eyes and slowly turning her head towards him, he smiled as their eyes met and saw her smile brightly in return as she sat up.

"Jess, you arrived early!"


	11. Chapter 11

"Yeah, I was lucky and finished everything that I needed to do." Jess moved to sit by Rory on the bridge, he slipped off his shoes and socks to dip his toes slightly in the river below. The action made him remember all the other times he done the same with Rory sat beside him.

"That's good, I'm glad you could make it here for the wedding."

"I'm glad I could too, weddings aren't really my thing but I have a feeling Lane will have a slightly unconventional one."

"I'm positive of that, I have no doubt it will be fun."

"Do you have a speech planned?"

"I do, all a part of being the maid of honour, it should amuse everyone at least."

"I look forward to that."

Jess and Rory sat in comfortable conversation for a few hours. Sharing stories about work, school and friends. Jess loved listening to her stories about Paris and Doyle, they made Rory laugh as she told them and he enjoyed watching her telling the stories. Rory had to ask questions to get Jess to talk, he was so wrapped up in listening and watching her. He happily shared stories and jokes about Matt and Chris which made Rory laugh. She liked to see that he had made some good friends there, he clearly loved his job and life in Philedelphia.

* * *

Slowly they fell into a silence, both leaned back onto the bridge with their legs still dangling from it. Jess had put his arm around Rory's shoulders in the hope that it would make it slightly more comfortable for her, he could feel himself drifting off in the warm afternoon heat, he felt Rory stir beside him but was happy when he felt her curl towards him and her arm wrap around his waist. He held her hard to himself and kissed the top of her head as he drifted slwoly into a light sleep.

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his chin, it woke him up with a start and a loud yell. His shout had woken Rory up, it was her stirring in her sleep and somehow managing to head butt him that had woken him up in the first place so he saw it as fair revenge as she sat upright looking less than happy about being woken up that way. He laughed at the look on her face while still rubbing his chin, he sat up next to her, she was soon chuckling along with him. She then looked at her watch and her eyes widened in shock at the time, they'd been sat there most of the day and she was late for getting ready for the party.

"Dammit, my mum is going to kill me, I'm late, she would have started getting ready nearly half an hour ago."

"Get back to the house and blame me for keeping you distracted, she'd only blame me otherwise. I hadn't realised how tired I was when I came out here."

"Apparently I was more tired than I realised too. I'll see you later though?"

"I imagine you'll be out late and drunk tonight but I'll be around tomorrow before the wedding and for the weekend if you have any spare time."

"Ok, I will see you soon then."

With that Rory got up and left to go back to her house, Jess sat there for a while longer thinking about what this weekend could hold, he had hoped it would be a step in the right direction for him and Rory, he still hoped that, he didn't want to be stuck not knowing what was going to happen.

* * *

Rory got home and managed to get herself ready in time for the party, stopping her mums annoyance at being late. She hadn't told her that she was with Jess, she wanted them to get off to a better start than that. They got to the gazebo, where they had planned on meeting all of the girls for the party, they all got goody bags with fun things for the party but unfortunately the time of the movie had been wrong so their evening was put on a bad start as there wasn't much else to do.

After coming to the conclusion that there was nothing else to do, they ended up in Brain's aunt's basement, but having a fun time nonetheless with the guys as they played pool and foosball while eating the snack that Lorelai had put together and drinking the beer they had all brought along. It was a good night and the bride and groom seemed to enjoy there somewhat unconventional pre-wedding parties.

* * *

Jess knew he wouldn't see Rory tonight, he tried to imagine her taking part in the partying and drinking that go along with a bachelorette party, somehow he couldn't quite picture it but it was amusing to try. He lay on the bed in Luke's now, he stayed here whenever he visited Luke or Liz, it barely looked different from when he lived here before. He had brought his laptop with him in case inspiration took hold while he was here, he retreived the laptop now ad took to continuing the story, it was taking hold now but he knew he was going to have trouble with the ending, it could go a number of ways and he wasn't sure which would be best. He continued to write until he could feel his eyes drooping, he had written a lot this evening but he was never sure how good it was and now he was too tired to get any better, he closed his laptop and gave up trying to write for now, he may get a chance to go back through what he'd written at some point while he was here.

He settled himself into his bed and tried to relax, for some reason he couldn't, his mind was racing with thoughts of past memories in this town, he knew there were good memories here, ones he thought back on occasionally. The memories that flooded his mind today weren't so good, it seemed being back here with Rory was bringing them all back to him. He hated remembering himself that way, how he was back then, the hurt he brought to the people around him, those he cared about.

He heard some sort of noise downstairs, he couldn't make out what it was, he wasn't worried as this was Stars Hollow after all. The noise continued and it was beginning to annoy him, he decided to go and find out what it was. As he walked down the stairs and pulled back the curtain he saw her outside the door and found himself laughing loudly at image of Rory trying to fond the spare key above the door, it was even funnier to him knowing there was no key there as he had used it and taken it with him. She hadn't seen or heard Jess approach until he unlocked the door and chuckled again as she jumped slightly.

"Hey there."


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey, you stole the key."

"Kinda had to use it to get in, do you want to come in?" Jess realised she had been drinking and a lot by the looks of it.

"Yes, that's why I wanted the key."

"Ok, well, you don't need the key anymore, come have some coffee." He managed to get her indoors and get her a cup of coffee.

"Ah, angel!"

"It is good coffee." He was having a hard time stopping himself from laughing, he had never seen Rory have a drink.

"The best, I miss it when I'm not around."

"I'm sure you still drink plenty of the coffee at Yale."

"Of course, can't survive without the coffee."

"So, good night out on the town?"

"It was an odd party but a fun one, we ended up at Brians aunt, played some games, ate some food."

"Drank a lot of something other than water?"

"Beer, lots of beer."

"I'm glad you had a good time, drink lots of coffee and water tonight though, need to be nice and sober for the wedding tomorrow."

"Yeah I do, I'm the maid of honour so got to be all good for the morning."

"You do, do you want me to walk you home?" She had finished her coffee now.

"Yeah sure, I'm feeling a little better all ready."

"Come on." As she stood up, she was still more than a little wobbly on her feet. "Woah, ok. You're not going anywhere yet, you need more coffee."

"Yeah, coffee's good." he poured her another cup and then heard a phone starting to ring.

"Is that yours?" He walked around to where she sat and tried to find her phone, luckily he found it quickly in the small bag she took out with her, the caller ID said it was Lorelai and he didn't seem so sure about answering it but realised he didn't really have a choice.

"Hey Lorelai, I believe I found something that belongs to you."

"Ah, I'm glad she ok at least, she drank a fair bit tonight, how is she?"

"She's fine, waiting for her to sober up a bit before I bring her home."

"If it's easier you can just dump her in Luke's bed upstairs for the night, make sure you watch your hands up there, and I'll come get her when she's more able to walk in the morning."

"That may be the safer option for everyone involved, and you know I'd never take advantage of her drunk, I'll let her know she will see you in the morning."

They both hung up then and Jess got Rory upstairs, it took a while because she was still having trouble with the walking, he had to half carry her up the stairs. She seemed half asleep by the time he put her in Luke's bed and tucked her in. He grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the fridge and put them on the table beside the bed.

"Get some sleep, your mum will be here tomorrow to get you to the wedding."

"Stay here with me, talk to me. I'm not sleepy yet." He chuckled at that given that she looked as if she was already falling asleep but he decided to humour her. He sat on the edge of the bed so he could see her face.

"What would you like to talk about?"

"Why do we always have bad timing, we can never just be happy." Jess was suprised at the conversation and thought she probably wouldn't remember anything he said to her in the morning.

"We will be happy, don't worry."

"I want you to be happy, Jess. I don't know why I'm stopping us, it's stupid, even my mum thinks so."

"I get it, so does your mum. I am happy."

"It's still stupid, I know I want to be with you and don't even know why I'm saying to wait."

"You've just broken up with someone, you need time. At least that's what you said."

"Yeah that, I know that, I just know it shouldn't be a reason."

"But it is, you should get some sleep. We can talk more when you're awake and sober." He didn't want to have this conversation while Rory is drunk, when he didn't know if she meant anything she said.

"Ok, I suppose I'm pretty sleepy."

"Yeah you are." He laughed lightly as he got off the bed. "Goodnight Rory"

"Goodnight Jess." She rolled slowly so she was facing away from him. "I love you."

Jess froze in the middle of the apartment and then heard heavy breathing and a light snore coming from the bed, she couldn't have meant to say that and he guessed she wouldn't remember saying it. That didn't stop him from hearing or remembering it himself though. She had never said that to him before and now the first time she does it's because she's drunk, not exactly the way he wanted it to happen. He crawled into his bed and tried not to think about it, tried to forget like she would.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I made the wedding a friday night so I didn't have to do a friday night dinner, I will be writing Emily and Richard at some point, I'm just not ready to do that yet. I know Chris isn't the most popular character and I certainly never liked him much, this will be one of the few appearances by him because I have a hard time writing him. I'm kind of going to gloss over the wedding a little here because I don't want to change anything about it, it was perfect for Lane and Zak so just imagine it exactly the same with Jess in the crowd.**

 **Anyway, onto the story, keep reviewing and I hope everyone continues to enjoy it.**

* * *

Jess spent most of the night awake, he kept hearing Rory stir in her sleep and found himself constantly getting up to check on her. It was a little before 6 o'clock in the morning when she stirred and woke up, Jess went towards and sat down on the bed next to her.

"Hey, your mum isn't going to be here for another couple of hours, try to sleep some more." He pulled the blanket further up her shoulder.

"No, I'm alright." Her voice was hoarse so Jess passed her the bottle of water he had left on the table. "Thanks, for last night as well I mean."

"That's alright, any reason you came by this way last night?"

"I don't really remember the thought process involved." He was expecting that answer and laughed lightly in response.

"I figured as much, if you're not going to sleep then come up and get some coffee, you'll need it if you're going to make it through today after last night." He helped Rory out of bed and went with her to the kitchen to fix them some coffee.

"Ah, thank you."

"You're welcome. So good night?"

"Yeah, it was, ended up with a mixed party with the boys over at Brians aunt."

"You mentioned that last night, I'm glad you had a good time."

"I did, I'm sorry for coming over, I know it wasn't exactly the plan."

"It's fine, I've never seen you drink before so it was fun for me." Rory put her head in her hands in embarressment at the thought of last night.

"I remember bits and pieces of being here, but I didn't do anything too embarressing did I?" Jess briefly remember what she said before she fell asleep but put it back to the back of his head.

"Nah, a lot of slurred words and not being able to walk but other than that you were basically just you a little more jolly."

"Nothing I should regret too much then." They both laughed at that.

"Well, let me fix you some breakfast, what do you fancy?"

"Anything you've got."

Jess got up and made some eggs and bacon for them both, they sat in comfortable silence while they ate. Jess had to keep pushing those words back to the back of his mind, it didn't do him any good to dwell on them, it was just a drunken statement. After breakfast they sat and talked comfortably about books until there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, where's my little drunk?"

"Hi mum." Lorelai had walked in straight after knocking rather than waiting for a response from inside.

"I was expecting to find you still dead to the world after the night you had."

"I woke up a little while ago, don't feel so bad actually."

"That's unfair, I wanted sick and hungover."

"Thanks for your concern, I'm going to freshen up quickly and then we will head out?" Jess pointed out the bathroom and realsied quickly he was left alone with Lorelai for the first time in a long time.

"Do you want anything, coffee, before you go?"

"Sure. Thanks for looking out for her last night."

"Not a big deal."

"We both know that isn't true Jess. It was a big deal and I know things are messy right now but I'm glad you were here."

"She really does tell you everything, things are fine though."

"Something tells me you particularly happy with how things are?"

"Like you said, things are messy and I don't so much like messy, but I'm managing."

"Well, if it helps any, I'm rooting for you and the simple life." He smiled at that, he would never have expected that sentence to come out of Lorelai.

Rory came out of the bathroom looking a little better and the girs said their goodbyes and thank yous again before leaving Jess alone in the apartment with promise to see them again at the ceromony.

* * *

"So did you sort out your date for today?"

"It actually turns out your dad was near by and happy to come for the wedding."

"Oh, that was lucky for you."

"Yeah. We should get over to Lane, I can only imagine the horror that is the Kim house right now."

"You fixed the dress, right?"

"Well a spilt coffee did most of the work but I managed to make it into something Lane may actually consider wearing today." Rory laughed at the thought of her mum spilling coffee on the dress so she would be able to make the adjustments she wanted.

* * *

Lorelai was right that the Kim household was a mess throughout the whole day, with the surprise appearance of Lane's grandmother meant she had to have a Buuddhist ceromony as well as the Christian one. The whole thing made Mrs Kim so stressed that she hardly noticed the changed made the Lane's dress. Lane loved the dress and Zak loved his outfit for the Buddhist ceromony so both were happy with the way the day had gone. The reception was held in the town with everyone in attendance, Kirk bringing his next business idea of sexy male bartenders and Hep Alien doing there come-back appearance.

* * *

"So, I know weddings aren't your thing but how are you enjoying the day?"

"It's been great, not like any other wedding I've seen and I went to a few of my mums, they seem really happy and didn't seem to mind the craziness of the day at all."

"They didn't mind at all, they are so unlike any other couple I know, but perfect for each other."

"They seem it." Looking at the two them Jess really ddi see how well they were suited and how happy they were together.

* * *

"So, who's the guy?" Chris hadn't had much chance to talk to Rory but he knew he could get all the information out of Lorelai.

"Jess, they're friends, recently back in contact."

"What happened to Logan? I liked him."

"He cheated on her, they split up a little while ago." He could hear the anger in Lorelai's voice over Logan and decided not to ask anymore about him.

"Oh, I had no idea, so do we like this Jess?" He felt bad that he hadn't known about Logan until a while after the fact.

"He's a good guy but you have to make your mind up about him yourself."

"Ok, suppose I'll go talk to them then." That wasn't exactly what Lorelai had meant but there was no stopping him now.

They both walked up towards the pair, there was no way he was letting Chris go by himself for this.

"Hey kid, how you doing?"

"Hi dad, I'm good, how are you and Gigi?"

"We're good, she's doing well, you should come see her soon, she's getting big now."

"Yeah I'll make time for a visit soon."

"Good. So who's your friend?" Rory passed a somewhat apologetic look towards Jess and he smiled at her.

"This is Jess, Jess this is my dad, Chris."

"Hey." Jess extended a hand to shake Chris's hand, after everything he had heard about him he knew he wasn't going to get along with him so well.

"How do you two know each other?"

"We've known each other for years, I lived here for a few years in my teens, with Luke."

"Oh, you're the nephew." Everyone knew what he was thinking about the second he said it, that car crash years ago, Rory visably winced as he said the phrase.

"Yeah, the same one." It felt as if the air had suddenly got thicker and he found himself looking at Lorelai to get him out of whatever awkward situation he had found himself in.

"Let's go dance Chris, leave these two to talk." Lorelai saw the look from both Jess and Rory, they didn't want to have this conversation now or with Chris in general. She managed to drag Chris towards the dance floor before he could say anthing else to the young pair.

"I thought you said he was a good guy, wasn't he the one who broke our daughter?"

"It was a fracture, and an accident. He grown a lot since then, I never expected to be saying this about him, but he's changed and good for our daughter."

"I have a hard time believing that."

"Don't judge him Chris, you know of one teenage incident, which he regrets, you don't know him now."

"I guess." Lorelai decided the topic of Jess was best left for now, she wasn't sure if Chris would ever get to know him so it wasn't worth pushing the issue.

* * *

The party was dying down now, it was coming onto 11 o'clock and the last of the people were leaving the town square. Lorelai had drank a little too much and after an embarressing speech Chris had assured Rory that he would get her home and in bed. Rory worried about her but knew her dad would make sure that she was ok.

"Want to come over for a night-cap?" Jess and Rory had spent the evening talking, she had even talked him into a dance with her which wasn't as bad as he expected it to be. He didn't want their evening to be over yet.

"Yeah sure." Rory had been having a great night with Jess and didn't want it to end either.

They heading over to the diner where they went up the apartment.

"What would you like?"

"Just a coffee for me." She'd had enough of alcohol since the night before so had stopped after a couple of glasses tonight, she noticed that Jess hadn't drank anything but soft drinks all night except for the drink for the toast.

"Sounds good to me." He made coffee for the two of them before sitting across from her at the table.

"I'm sorry for my dad tonight."

"Don't worry, he's just protective and I get it. He only knows me as the guy that got you hurt."

"He has no right to be like that though, maybe he'd know you better if he was around at any point during my life." A bitter edge had come into Rory's voice and he didn't like hearing it, he understood the crappy parent thing.

"Other than that, it was a great night, I had a better time than expected to."

"I'm glad you did. I'm really happy you could come."

"I'm happy I could come too."

"So, about some of the things I said last night?" His mind instantly jumped the last words she'd uttered before she'd fallen asleep, but he didn't think that was what she was talking about.

"What things were they?"

"Things I should have said sober."

"It's alright. I didn't know there was anything else we needed to talk about anyway."

"There wasn't but after talking to my mum, and thinking over things, maybe taking things a little faster than we talked about, wouldn't be a bad thing." Jess smiled as he watched her ramble and have trouble getting the words out.

"Ok, so what is the little faster option?"

Rory was about to answer when her phone staretd ringing from her bag.

"It's probably my mum checking up on me."

"Answer it, it's alright."

Rory got up and answered her phone without looking at who it was.

"Hey Rory, sorry to call you like this, I know you and Logan are having issues." Rory recognised Honors voice on the other end of the phone. "But he's been in an accident, he's asking for you."


	14. Chapter 14

"You're going to go see him?!"

"I have to Jess, what choice do I have?"

"You have the choice to not go there, he isn't your boyfriend anymore, why does he want you there?" Jess realised he was shouting but couldn't help it, any mention of that guy got him riled up.

"I don't know but he nearly died Jess and he wants to talk to me, I can't just not let him."

"Sure you can, he was a jerk that cheated on you, you could just blow him off. If you go he will guilt you into forgiving him."

"He's not going to do that. I won't forgive him, but I have to go."

"Fine." Jess was getting more and more annoyed with the conversation, he'd hoped that things would have gone very different with Rory tonight, they were beginning to talk about really starting something, they always had the worst timing.

"Jess, please don't be mad, I know it's late but I won't be long. Just don't go anywhere until I come back, please?"

"Fine I'll be here, just call my cell when you're on your way back."

"Ok, I promise I won't be long."

Rory walked towards Jess and put her arms around his neck, pulled him in tight for a hug, she felt his arms go around her as well, as she pulled back she kissed him quickly before leaving the apartment and heading straight to her car.

* * *

Rory arrived at the hospital just after midnight, a nurse at the desk had pointed her in the right direction. Suddenly she felt arms go around her middle and her vision was full of blonde hair.

"Rory, thank you so much for coming."

"Hi, Honor, I'm not staying, just came to see what he wanted to say to me."

"I know things are rocky between you two."

"We broke up, Honor."

"Oh, he didn't say that. Well I'm sorry, you were good for him but I always doubted my brothers ability to be a good boyfriend to you."

"Can I speak to him?"

"Sure, he's in that room." Rory went into the room that Honor had pointed to and saw Logan in the bed, he looked so small and bandaged up, she felte tears come unbidden to her eyes.

"Hey Ace, no tears, I'm doing ok, come here." He reached out a hand and Rory went forward to take it in hers.

"Doing ok? You fell off a cliff, you nearly died." Rory found herself laughing at his assurances.

"They are giving me stuff for the pain and I'll be out in a few days."

"I told you those stunts were dangerous."

"And you were right Ace, about a lot of things. I really am sorry about everything that happened, I shouldn't have slept with those women, I knew I wanted you back."

"I know you are sorry but that doesn't change anything, Logan."

"I just want things to go back, to how we were before."

"That can't happen, is that what you wanted to talk to me about, why you got Honor to get me here?"

"Yeah, that and to tell you that I'm done with it all, I'm going to London after I graduate."

"Good, you shouldn't keep putting yourself in those situations, I'm glad you'll be stopping."

"I want us to be ok again." Rory moved away from Logan and took her hand back out of his.

"We won't be ok again, and I don't want us to be."

"Don't say that Rory, I love you and we can make this work."

"But I don't love you Logan, I loved this possibility future person that you could become, but you never did, not really.

With that Rory left his room and walked straight past Honor who for once said nothing, just touched her arm as she passed. She called Jess as soon as she got back in her car and told him she was heading back, he still seemed mad that she had gone but happier now he knew she was coming back to him.


	15. Chapter 15

Jess still felt wide awake even though it was nearly 2 o'clock in the morning when he heard Rory knock on the diner door, he had been waiting in the diner for her, when he heard it he put on some burgers, figuring she'd be hungry after the night she'd had.

"Hey, come on in."

"Thanks, you still mad at me?"

"I wasn't mad, just frustrated, I put a couple burgers on for us, you want?"

"Yeah sure."

Jess finished up the burgers and they took then upstairs to eat.

"So, how was it there?"

"You were right, he wanted to get me back, I needed to see him though, now I know there's nothing there anymore, for me anyway."

"I'm sorry I yelled, I should have known you needed to go."

"It's alright, I know why you did."

There was a small lull in the conversation while they ate there food, it was a comfortable silence though, as it usually was between the two of them.

"You know, you keep asking me what it is that I want, with us but you never told me what you want?"

"I just want you Rory, it's always been simple for me. I just want you in my life, to be in yours, whatever way you'll have me in it. If that means being your friend then I'll be your friend, if that means being something more then I'm happy with that too."

"But what do you want it to be?"

"You already know that Rory."

"Maybe, but I need to hear it from you."

"Ok, fine. I want it all, you know this. I don't just want to be you friend, I want to plan visits and take you out, plan days or weekends with you. I want to fall asleep with you there and wake up with you beside me. I don't care about the distance or that you'll be busy with school, I want what time I can have with you and not just as a friend. But if a friend is what you need me to be for you then that's what I am."

Rory was shocked into silence, Jess wasn't one to talk about his emotions, he had said everything in one big rush but she had caught every word of it. She had always known how he had felt about her but it still shocked her to here the extent of it, she wasn't sure what to say in response to it. Jess looked at as if he expected the reaction he got from her, stunned silence. He just sat there quietly, not pushing or pressuring for any kind of response from her.

"We should get some sleep, it's been a long night for both of us." Jess got up and Rory followed. "Do you want me to take you home?"

"Would it be a terrible idea if I crashed here again?"

"No, you're welcome to stay." He went towards his bag to grab some spare clothes for her. "You can wear these again if you want, saves you wearing your dress to sleep."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Goodnight." Jess moved towards his bed as Rory went to the bathroom to get herself sorted for bed.

"Night Jess."

Rory got herself into the bed that used to be Luke's, she tried to relax but the conversation they'd had kept running through her head, she felt bad that she hadn't replied, she just couldn't put it into words, what she wanted to say back to that. She wanted to tell him about the conversation she had with Logan, how she felt about him but nothing had come out. She knew she should be tired, it had been a long day, but she felt wide awake. She had to say something to him, to tell him that his feelings weren't just one-sided, to tell him that she wanted something more as well.

She finally got up the courage and quietly got out of bed and made her way over to where Jess was in his bed, his back was too her when she approached but something told her he wasn't asleep. She could feel her courage slipping but knew it would get worse the longer shen waited so instead of turning around like she was screaming at herself to, she went around the bed and knelt in front of Jess. His eyes were open and their eyes met as she knelt there.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Ok." Jess felt as if Rory had something she wanted off her chest so he didn't want to interrupt her thoughts.

"I was thinking, about how I should have responded. I wasn't expecting that answer from you, it just surprised me, I didn't know what to say."

"And you know now?"

"I feel the same as you do, Jess. I want more than friendship, I'm just not sure how we would work. With school and work, there's too much to get in the way."

Jess hadn't expected this, he wasn't sure what he expected but it wasn't this outburst of emotion, now he knew how she had felt when he did it.

"Come here." He reached out and put his arms around her, pulled her up onto the bed with him, so she was laying next to him, facing each other. "We can figure everything out, I know there's a lot that could go wrong but we were good together. We can make this work, I can visit you whenever you want and we can have you at Truncheon when you have the time, we will call and text as much as we can. It can work."

"How are you so sure?"

Instead of answering he pressed his lips against hers, he couldn't put into words why he felt so sure about the two of them but he hoped he put his feelings across through the kiss. Rory returned the kiss in kind, it was a sweet kiss with all the feelings they both could muster into it, both were left breathless as they pulled away.

"We are really trying this?"

"Yeah we really are." Jess was happy to see the smile that spread across her face as he said that. "Now we should get some sleep, we can talk more in the morning."

Rory realised how tired she was as he said that.

"Ok, we should get some sleep." Jess laughed as he saw her yawn while that, he turned her over so her back was to him and kissed her neck.

"Goodnight Rory."

"Goodnight Jess."


	16. Chapter 16

**Elsasi, Droolia and RhizOneill who keep telling me how they feel about the story lines, it's always great to see what you think, I hope you keep it up and carry on enjoying the story.**

* * *

Rory woke up still feeling Jess's arms around her, a smile came as she remembered last night. She must have moved slightly because she felt Jess's arms tighten around her.

"Hey there, sleepy." Jess had been awake for a while but had let Rory sleep on until late in the morning.

"Hmm, how late is it?"

"Just gone 10, you seemed to need the sleep."

"I did. Thank you."

Rory looked up at him and felt herself blush at the thought of last night, she was happy that they had worked out everything between them. She felt Jess's arms tighten around her again and Jess pressed his lips against hers, she fell into the kiss and moved her hands across his chest. She heard a slight groan come from Jess as she pressed her hands against him.

"I could get used to this." Rory laughed as he said that.

"Me too."

Neither had any plan to move any time soon as they began kissing again, Jess moved his hands under her top so he could feel her skin. She noticed how he remember the things she had liked when they were teenagers, how he held and moved his against her lower back in circles, it still made her moan slightly when he did it. She felt his hand start to move down and underneath her waistband. She felt herself instantly pull away.

"Jess..." She wasn't sure why she felt the need to stop, for a time she had thought Jess would be her first, this didn't feel like the right time to take that step with him.

"It's ok Rory, I don't mind waiting."

Rory just smiled in response.

"So is the blond the only guy, you've been with I mean?" The question made Rory freeze.

"Logan? No I was with someone before him." Crap. Crap. Crap. He didn't know about Dean and she didn't expect it to be a good conversation. "Promise you won't get mad?"

"Mad?" Jess was confused at the way the conversation had gone, the way that Rory was finding it difficult to make eye contact with him now, he put a hand on her cheek to attempt to make her look at him. "I won't get mad."

"My first time was with Dean." She closed her eyes as she said it and instantly felt his hand move from her cheek and the bed feel a few degrees cooler. When she opened her eyes she realised that he had gotten out of the bed and out a t-shirt on. "Jess, you said you wouldn't get mad."

He moved even further away from her, into the kitchen and still didn't say a word to her. She followed him slowly, keeping her distance.

"Jess, say something please."

"What exactly do you want me to say about that Rory?"

"I don't know, anything." He still wasn't looking at her at all.

"I thought he was married?"

"He was."

"When you were together?"

"Yeah." She could see he was having a rough time with the idea of this, he kept running his hands through his hair and still refused to look at her. "I regret all of it."

"All of it?"

"We were together for a little while, after he seperated from his wife."

"Were you the reason they split?"

"I was a factor in it." She moved towards him and placed a hand on his back but he moved quickly away from her.

"When did it happen?"

"My freshman year." He sighed and turned slightly, she had known he meant for a more specific answer to that first night. "The test run for Dragonfly."

He turned fully at looked at her then in surprise, there was anger and she thought hurt in his eyes.

"You mean a week after I came to Yale."

"Jess, it wasn't like that." She tried to move closer to him again but he moved away, towards the door this time.

"I can't deal with this right now."

"What do you mean you can't deal with this?" Jess had grabbed his coat and gone to the door.

"I need time to process all this."

"No, Jess. If you leave, then I won't be here when you get back. I'm not going through all that again." She could hear herself get louder as she spoke.

"That's unfair, and you know it." He matched her volume and tone. He was angry now, she could tell by the look on his face as he turned towards her.

"No it's not, as soon as things get rough you're out the door, again. Just like when you were seventeen, you run away from your problems."

Without saying anything else Jess was out with door slammed loudly behind him.


	17. Chapter 17

Even though she had told Jess that she wouldn't be there when he got back, she couldn't bring herself to leave the apartment, she felt the tears fall just seconds after he left and they hadn't stopped since then. She had said some horrible things to him, things she didn't really mean but it made her realise how much stuff they had to work out if they were ever going to make this work. She did want to make this work though, she didn't want it to end before it got a chance to begin again. She couldn't help constantly looking at the clock, she didn't know how long he would need to think through everything that had happened... 30 minutes...45 minutes. She ended up laying back down on the bed to wait for him to come back.

* * *

He realised that he had been for nearly an hour and a half, but he didn't want to go back to the empty apartment. He knew he screwed up with Rory and he didn't know what to do to fix it, he had never been good with the talking part of the relationship. He figured she had gone back to her mums by now and he didn't want to see the look in Lorelai's eyes right now, after she had stuck up for him. He decided to just go back to the apartment, he would try to call Rory later, when he had a better chance of talking to her.

He walked into the apartment in a worse mood than when he left, but for different reasons now. As closed the door behind him he saw a movement in the corner of his eye, he looked over to see Rory on his bed. He was genuinly surprised to see her still there.

"I thought you'd be gone." It was a statement rather than question, he didn't want to think about why she was here, just glad that she was.

"I shouldn't have threatened to leave, it wasn't fair of me."

"It's alright, I get it."

"I'm sorry for the things I said, I didn't mean them, I know how much you've changed since those days and I know that you weren't leaving, not the same way as before. You just needed time and I get that." He could see that she had been dying to get all of this off her chest, she said it all in one big rush.

"Hey, it's ok, I understand why you said those things and why it made you think of the past." He sat down on the bed next her.

"I'm still sorry."

"And I forgive you."

"So, how did processing go?"

"I'm sorry I left, I was surprised and every time the guy gets mentioned, I want to punch something."

"I know how much you hated him, I really do regret everything that happened with him, I'm glad Logan wasn't the first guy I was with but I wish it wasn't Dean either."

"Are we ok now, though?" He hoped for a good answer as he placed his hand on top of Rory's.

"Don't we need to talk about this stuff?"

"I don't what else there is to say."

"You left for nearly two hours, I understood you needed time to think about things, that's why I stayed. I thought we would talk through things when you got back here."

Rory was the one that got up of the bed first this time, he could see that he was frustrating her.

"You know I'm not great with the talking Rory."

"I'm not a mind reader, Jess. How are we supposed to fix anything if you don't tell me what's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong, I promise." He got up now and was glad to see her turn into his embrace rather than away from him.

"You wouldn't have gone if nothing was wrong, I know it was more than just you hating him or you wouldn't have left like that."

He held her close to him as she buried her face into his shoulder, he was glad she wasn't looking at his face as he answered her.

"It hurt to think of you saying yes to him, it was always, and still is, a no to me. All those time before, when we were teens and dating, that stupid party years ago, Yale, it always seemed he was behind it. He was this road block for us and it hurt to know you said yes to him, it didn't help that the timing was directly after I got another no." She looked up at him then and saw the pain in his eyes.

"Jess, it wasn't like that. Please let me tell you everything, so you can understand."

Jess wasn't particularly happy with the idea but he saw the determination on her face.

"I'll make you a deal. Neither of us have eaten and it's closer to lunch time now, I'll make us some lunch and you can tell me the whole story." He saw her eyes brighten at the mention of food, she clearly hadn't thought about it until now but quickly realised that she was in fact starving too.

"Deal."

They both went into the kitchen, Jess started getting everything ready to make macaroni cheese while Rory sat herself down at the table. She was quiet while he was getting everything set up.

"I'm keeping up up my end, start talking." He had purposely kept his tone light.

"Sorry, I was thinking about how to start."

"It's ok, take your time." She was quiet for another couple of minutes before she started talking.

"My freshman year was really tough, I was told I had to drop a class and with the Dragonfly opening, me and my mum could barely talk, I really missed her." He moved towards her then and put his hand over hers.

"I'm sorry, I know how hard that must have been for you."

"It was and one day I came down here and had a complete break down because everything had piled up, I ended up at the Dragonfly but my mum wasn't there. Dean was, he was on the construction team. He was so nice to me and he calmed me down, we kind of became friends." Jess had gotten back up to continue the food at the mention of Deans name. "Things were friendly with us for a while, I found out that he was hiding it from Lindsay, his wife, but I didn't stop it. I convinced myself that it was his responsibility to tell his wife, it had nothing to do with me."

"That's true enough, you weren't the one hiding anything."

"I agreed to talk to him and see him but only at times and places that Linddsay wouldn't pick up on it. That night you came to Yale, he was with me because he came to pick me up from this awful date my Grandma had set me up on, he was the only person I could think of to call. He was always there as a safety net for me, I knew as I had for a long time before, that there no feelings there but I could remember so clearly how I had once felt about him. It felt nice to have him there, always reliable. My life had gotten so messed up, I felt like I needed that reliability in my life. After it happened my mum caught us, we had this huge fight, I got mad at her because I'd convinced myself I loved him, that his marriage was over, he had taken off the ring, told me he was getting a divorce. I believed him but the next morning he was walking around town with her, I was stupid and believed him again next time he told me it was over, made the same mistake all over again. My Grandma had invited me to spend the summer in Europe with her and I ran away from my problems and went with her, I didn't want to deal with my mum or Dean, I just wanted to leave. I wrote him a letter, telling him I couldn't do it anymore, Lindsay found it. It was awful and public when they split, he told me he had done it for me, some part of me was still convinced of my feelings for him and that I couldn't walk away after he left his wife for me. It clearly didn't work, he was in love with some sixteen year old version of me while I was just in it for some sense of safety while everything else seemed to be going wrong. We had a fairly public break-up at my grandparents place and I haven't had anything to do with him since, I think he's near Woodbridge now, still in construction."

Jess had let her talk until she had got it all out, he didn't really need that much information on the matter but he knew she needed to get it out. It put him at ease to hear her say she there wasn't any feelings there but he felt bad that her first time had been ruined by the circumstances, he knew it meant a lot to her. Now she had finished talking her dished up the lunch so she could eat.

"Thank you for telling me all that, it can't have been easy. I know you so I know you're thinking you did something wrong by sleeping with him, but he was the married one and he told you it was finished, you weren't the one in the wrong there. As for everything else, I understand why it all happened, you were in a bad place and he swooped in."

Rory just smiled at his reaction, she was hoping the explaination would make him see it had nothing to do with her relationship with him and all about the situation she was in at the time. He did seem to feel better about the whole thing now, somehow he had now started to comfort her.

"I came to terms with it all, don't worry."

"That's good, and it did help me make me feel better about the whole thing. I'm sorry I reacted the way I did before, I didn't give you a chance to tell me everything, if I had I wouldn't have been so angry about it."

"It's alright."

They finished eating in silence and Jess put the dishes in the sink.

"How about we go out and do something this afternoon?"

"What are you thinking?"

"That we need a fun afternoon after the eventful morning we've had, and I know the perfect thing, what do you say?"

"Let me go back to the house, get myself sorted for a day out, where are we going?"

"That's a surprise."

"How do I dress for a surprise?"

"Comfortable, I'll drop you off at the house and pick you back up in an hour, there's a good chance we will be out fairly late."

He came around the table and placed a swift kiss on Rory's lips before grabbing her hands and pulling her up to stand up with him.

"We're ok now?"

"We're good, I promise."

He pulled her in for a kiss and this time they were both breathless when they pulled apart.

"So, is an hour long enough for you to tell your mum everything that happened and get ready, or do you need more time?"

"An hour is fine." She swatted him softly on his arm at that.

"Let's go then."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: So, big monologue in the last chapter, sorry about that but I felt the need for the two of them to really talk, and Rory to put her side of the whole Dean issue forward, I know it was long winded though, so sorry for that. I know things have been rough, but did anyone really think it would be easy for them if they got back together? We are on to some better things for our favourite couple for now though. Hope everyone enjoys, and as always, please review.**

* * *

"It was a bad morning, but things are better now, we talked."

"I don't remember him being much of a talker, but I'm glad you talked. I've hardly seen you this weekend, tell Jess he has to let you go for the day tomorrow, and then invite him for dinner here. I need to spend more time with him now you two are officially a thing now."

"I'll see what he says about tomorrow night but I promise you have me all day."

"I better, I'm assuming you'll be above the diner for the night though?"

"Maybe, I'll let you know."

"Ok sweets." There was a knock on the door that signalled Jess's arrival. "I got this, you go finish getting ready."

"Thanks mum, be nice, please."

"Always." Lorelai went to answer the door. "Hey Jess, you are annoyingly right on time so Rory needs another couple of minutes."

"Right, I should have known."

"She would have been ready but I distracted her."

"I knew you two would spend most of the time talking, after this morning she had a lot to share with you."

"She did. I'm glad you two figured it out though."

"So am I."

"Rory said you need to be heading out tomorrow, any particular time?"

"I'm pretty flexible, why do you ask?"

"Well, you've boycotted all the time with my daughter this weekend, I need my fix of her, tomorrow she's mine all day, after you drop her back off in the morning. But you're important to her so I also want to see you, for a movie night, Rory is leaving Monday morning and you can leave when ever you have to."

"Movie night sounds great, I can push my travel time back to first thing Monday so I don't have to rush out on you guys. Your choice for movie and food."

"You're good at this."

Rory came out of her room to hear the last part of their conversation.

"So tomorrow all sorted then?"

"Yeah, I get to pick movies and snacks for the night."

"Movies?" The girls both just laughed at his response.

"Let's go."

* * *

It was mid-afternoon by the time Jess stopped the car in New York, he made the plan to bring Rory here a couple of weeks ago and was glad he had managed to bring it about. He took her straight into a bookshop that he had found a few yeard back, the first floor was full of new books, the second was used, but the third floor was his favourite and he knew it would Rory's, it had shelves of classics, rare books, first editions and even a couple of signed books.

"This place is great." He saw her eyes light up as she walked around the store, he watched her as she walked around looking at the books, he had always loved her passion for books.

They walked around the shop for hours in the end, he knew they would so he hadn't planned much else for their afternoon, he was surpirsed that Rory had only picked up three books throughout the store, but he had seen her write down a list for the next time she was in the area.

"I didn't mean to stay in there so long, there was just so much to see."

"I knew you'd stay in there that long, don't worry, it was all part of the plan."

Rory just laughed at that, she had always known that Jess knew her better than anyone.

"So, you must be getting hungry by now, so I declare time to feed you again." Just as he said that he heard her stomach growl in agreement and both of them laughed at the timing.

He walked her to a park that she instantly recognised as the same one she visited him in so many years ago.

"Washington Square Park, I rememeber this place, that was the bench you were sat in when I saw you."

"Yes it was, now you sit there and stay, and I'll be 5 minutes." The sun was beginning to set but the area was well let and it wasn't dark yet so if felt comfortable leaving her there while he went to the restaurant across the road to pick up there food. "So we have aselection of food here for you to choose from."

Jess returned with two bags worth of food full of all kinds of different stuff, including sandwiches, pizza slices, burgers, fries and even a salad which she looked at questioningly at.

"Here." He spread out a blanket on the grass behind the bench and set the food out on it. "Come sit, you don't have to eat the salad." he chuckled at the look on her face at the sight of it.

They spent a couple of hours enjoying the food and company, talking about books and music while they ate. After they finished eating Jess lay down on the blanket and pulled Rory into himself, holding her close by an arm around her shoulders, sharing the occasional kiss between them, together they looked up at the stars, even with all the lights of the city they could still be seen on the clear night.

"Thank you, for doing this this afternoon. I've had a really great time."

"So have I, I'm glad I did it."


	19. Chapter 19

"So, now it's just us girls, how are things with the fella?" Rory could tell that Lorelai was happy to have some alone time with her, she was happy too she didn't get nearly enough time with her lately.

"It was a great evening, massive book store followed by a picnic in New York, I'm glad we worked through things."

"And you're happy with how things are resolved?"

"I think so, the whole thing reminded me so much of when we were teenagers, I thought we were past all of that and I just hope it won't cause problems later."

"I get that, but this was different than when you were teenagers, he left but he came back and faced you. That's a huge step up from seventeen year old Jess. Maybe he did what he knew he needed to do, he knows he has issues with communication so he went and cleared his mind so he could talk to you properly, if he hadn't done that it could have got a lot worse."

"I hadn't thought about it like that."

"Think about it, and don't get mad at him if he takes off to clear his mind sometimes, it could just be his process."

"I will, thanks mum."

"What I'm here for hun."

"So, what about you and Luke, the whole April thing resolved yet?"

"Nope, she's met Jess, she's met you, she's met half the town but I'm cut off. He keeps telling me he isn't ready for me to meet her."

"I'm sorry mum, maybe he's just worried about how it will go, you're the most important person in his life right now and he might just want it to be right when you meet his daughter."

"Yeah, well I'm trying to be patient, not worry about everything being put on hold."

"Patient isn't something either of us are good at."

"But I'm trying."

"You're doing well so far, just don't give up yet."

"I'm not giving up."

"Good."

"Onto better conversation, tonight what's our plan?"

"Well, Jess gave you complete reign over movies and food, not sure that was the best idea and I dread to ask but what have you got in mind?"

"A fun night of the girliest flicks I could find."

"That's cruel, and unnecessary, we don't even like these movies."

"Gotta test the guy out, see how long it takes to break him."

"Oh god, mum. He's never going to want to come back here."

"I have complete faith he will do fine."

The girls settled into easy conversation after that, Lorelai had been keeping a list of things she had seen on the tv the last few weeks that she thought Rory would enjoy. Rory had missed spending time with her mum lately, she decided she was going to make it a more regular events, phone calls weren't really enough.

* * *

They had just finished setting up food on the table when they heard a knock on the door. Rory got up to answer the door before her mum could beat her to it.

"Hey there." Jess was glad to see her, he had missed her today but he spent his day writing as much as he could.

"You're still annoyingly punctual. Come on in." He walked further in to the house and swung the door shut behind him.

"Hang on a second." He pulled her in for a small kiss before pulling away again quickly. "Somehow I don't think we will get another chance tonight." He laughed lightly when he saw the blush creep onto Rory's face.

Unfortunately Lorelai picked that moment to come around the corner.

"I don't want to know what could cause a blush like that in two seconds. Hi Jess." He laughed again to see Rory's blush turn a deeper red.

"Hi Lorelai, so what have you got in store for me tonight?"

"You're in for a treat. I thought I was in charge of the food?" Lorelai pointed to the bag in his hand in accusation.

"I knew you'd have it covered, but felt rude for turning up empty handed, I thought you'd prefer burgers to flowers?"

"Ah, you indeed know the Gilmore Girls, always happy for more food. Come on through and we will get the chick flick marathon started."

Jess looked at Rory in digust at the term 'chick flick' but she just shrugged with an apolegetic look her eyes. He knew he was in for a long night of awful movies, but he got the sense that tonight was a test in some way so he was determined to make it through.

* * *

He had made it through the first movie with little comment, more watching Rory than the movie and grabbing whatever food with arms reach. As much as the movie sucked, and it really did, he was enjoying the evening. Lorelai got up to put on the second movie and Jess managed to sneak another small kiss from Rory before she sat back down on the couch. As they started the movie Rory excused herself to go to the bathroom, told them to keep the movie playing, within a few seconds Lorelai had pushed pause and he thought he knew where this was going.

"So, thought maybe a small chat was in order, between us." Jess was tentative to reply to that, he knew it could go a number of ways.

"Ok."

"I know you care about Rory."

"I do." She didn't look happy that he had spoken. "Sorry, by chat you meant, you're going to talk?"

"Kinda, but it's nice to hear you agree. She's a great girl and I always thought badly of you but I want you to know I'm starting a clean slate this time, no past judgments, she wants me to do that and so does Luke. She has college now and my opinion will go down instantly if you do anything to mess with that, she needs to focus."

"Thank you, for the clean slate, I know your opinion matters a lot to her so it's nice to not have you against me. As for her college work, the last thing I want to do is mess with that, I've always been in full support of it and I won't let her lose focus."

"I hate being wrong but I think I was about you the first time round. You seem to make her happy, and as long as you do that, I'm in your corner."

With that she pressed play on the movie again.

"Oh, and I have eyes in the back of head. Even when you don't think I can see you, I can. So watch your hands, and lips here." She said it with a smile but also sternly, he knew she was being serious.

"Sorry about that."

Shortly after Rory returned and the conversation wasn't mentioned again. He was glad Lorelai had gotten the conversation off her chest and that she was in his corner now. In this she was the best person to have behind him.


	20. Chapter 20

"So you'll call me as soon as you get back?"

"I promise, have fun with your mum analysing the movie night."

"I will, what time do you think you will make it back to Truncheon?"

"Well Matt told me he would kill me if I arrived any later than 10, so hopefully before then. At least he will be happy with the amount of writing I get down yesterday, should make up for coming back late."

"I'm glad you got some writing done, and that you stayed."

Jess kissed her gently again, they had been saying goodbye for the last ten minutes, but neither had wanted to pull away yet.

"Right, if you don't get back in there, your mum is going to come out here instead."

"Good point, go. Get some sleep and call me when you get back to Truncheon."

"I promise, and when we talk tomorrow night we will plan another visit."

He pulled her in for another quick kiss before pulling away. He looked back before turning the corner to see Rory still stood on the porch and her hand raised in a wave, he waved in return before he turned and was out of sight.

"All done with the goodbyes?"

"Yes mum, he's heading back to the diner now. He's got to leave early if his work partner is going to forgive him for staying an extra night."

"Oops, I didn't mean to get him in trouble by having my movie night, he could have said no."

"He wanted to come, and he said he wasn't in too much trouble over it."

"Good."

"So, what's your verdict, after spending the evening with him?"

"He's great kid, he's crazy about you and he took longer to break than we did tonight, ate his own body weight in junk food. He's a good fit, you seem great together, happy."

"That's a lot of positives, if someone told me years ago that you would be this happy about me being with Jess, I never would have believed them."

"Right there with you hun."

"But the past is being put behind us right?"

"Way behind us, we had a brief conversation and set things right with us."

"I'm glad you are getting along now."

"Right, I need sleep, I know you are heading out fairly early tomorrow too so you should sleep while you can too."

"Yeah, you're right. Goodnight mum."

"Night sweets."

* * *

Rory got back to her apartment before 9, she was greatful that Paris and Doyle both seemed to be out. She didn't have long but didn't want to deal with Paris right now. She knew she would get enough of that when she went to the paper later. She dropped off the bag she had taken with her for the weekend and lay on her bed for a while, she had sent Jess a quick text when she had arrived, she didn't expect to hear back as he would still be driving. She was surprised how much she missed him already, they'd had a really great time together at the weekend and she hadn't been ready for it to end.

They had a quick conversation once he arrived at Truncheon but he had been interrupted by Matt shouting in the background. She had laughed along with him and told him to call her that night when they could talk properly.

* * *

Rory was glad that the paper hadn't been completely distroyed in her absence and that the bunker wasn't back. Paris hadn't mellowed at all and definitely didn't like Bill any better than when she had left. The second she walked into the office she had both of them trying to fill in all the information that she had missed. She spent hours trying to get all caught up and working on the next issue, she hadn't realised how late it had become until her phone rang and Jess was able to talk. She was glad that she had managed to work the day away so she hadn't missed him too much, she knew it was going to be a hard time without him and hoped they would be able to get a visit in soon.


	21. Chapter 21

Jess was getting frustrated, he was reaching the end of his book and couldn't find the way to end it. It was a lot longer than he had expected it to be, Matt and Chris were both constantly going on at him to wrote more, they were loving it so far but knew it was time to wrap it up as well. It had been two weeks since he had seen Rory and it was starting to get to him, they talked every night by phone and texted throughout the day when they weren't too busy but it wasn't the same, he wanted to see her but both of them were so busy and it was impossible to find a time that both of them were free enough to spend time together.

"Oh jeez, Jess."

"What did I do now?" Matt's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"Nothing, that's the point. You've been sat there staring into thin air for the last half an hour, with a manuscript you haven't even looked at in front of you."

"Sorry, I got distracted." He really did feel bad, he knew he was supposed to be getting work done.

"Look, you're next to useless to me like this, see what Rory is doing for the next week, if she can have you then I'll give you two manuscripts and send you to Yale for the week." Jess was shocked at the suggestion.

"I can't do that, there's stuff that needs doing here."

"Me and Chris can manage without you, you aren't doing any of the work anyway." Matt laughed as he said it, showing he wasn't actually mad at Jess for slacking off lately. "Usually you're a great worker but right now I think you need to get away, maybe it will even help you write."

"Thanks Matt, I don't even know if it would be possible."

"That's why I said to check with Rory first, ask when she might next be able to house you for a week, when she might get some time with you."

"I'll ask and see what she says."

"Good, but the deal only holds if you get at least some work done today."

Jess knew Matt was always helpful but he wasn't always practical, he didn't want to get his hopes up. Even if Rory was willing to have him there and he wouldn't interfer with her school work, he would have to talk to both Matt and Chris together before he just left for a week.

* * *

"So, what does your week look like?" Jess wanted to bring up the possibility of the visit with Rory first, to see when it would be a good time.

"Paper and lectures, one assignment due at the end of the week, Friday Night Dinner as always, but a fairly light week overall. What about yours?"

"Well, it was suggested to me that I'm becoming pretty useless around here, Matt told me I could write and edit from anywhere. So I was thinking about maybe spending a week over Yale way and doing it from there." He wasn't sure how Rory was going to react to the idea of a visit on such short notice or him staying with her for that long but smiled when he heard the excited noise coming down the phone.

"You'd come here, for the week?"

"If you and Paris wouldn't mind keeping me for that long, if it's a problem I can always get a hotel though."

"Don't you dare, I'll convince her to allow you over. I'd still have to get stuff done though, would you be able to entertain yourself at the apartment during the days?"

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure Matt and Chris will be giving me plenty of work to do over the week so I'll be just as busy as you but we will actually have some time together as well."

"Sounds perfect, when do you think you'll be able to get here?"

"Well, if we both spend the weekend getting things sorted and I'll confirm with the guys that I'm alright to leave for that long, I can come Monday morning?"

"Works for me, gives me time to convince Paris too."

They spent the rest of their phone call in light conversation about books, music and how Jess's writing was coming along. Until Rory had to go because of another phone call. Jess had let her go knowing the all was more than likely Lorelai and they hadn't spoken much lately.

* * *

"Hey, mum. How it going?"

"Oh, same old, I'm glad I finally managed to catch you."

"I know, we've both been so busy lately. Last I heard Luke had invited you over to do April's party, how did it go?"

"It went great, until Anna let Luke know how unhappy she was."

"Why was she so unhappy?"

"April liked me, Anna doesn't want her getting attached to someone who may not be permanant. I get it, she doesn't know what will happen with me and Luke. Hell, I don't. Until we are married she just isn't comfortable having me connect with April."

"I'm sorry mum, you and Luke both know you're permanant and she should see that."

"Yeah, well. Anyway, talk happy to me."

"Jess is hopefully coming for a visit, a full week."

"Wow, that's great hun. He got some time off work?"

"Not exactly, his partners have said he could do the work from over here, I've got plenty of work to do too so neither of us will just be sitting around waiting for the other to finish."

"Sounds like a good plan." Lorelai was glad to see Rory and Jess doing well, it did seem like they were good together.

The girls caught up on the goings on around the town and the inn, and promised to see each other tomorrow for Friday night dinner before saying goodnight.

Rory was really excited to see Jess, it had felt like a really long two weeks without his company. She texted Jess quickly updating him on the conversation with her mum and the situation with Luke, he liked to be kept in the loop. He replied letting her know that both Matt and Chris had given the green light for Monday until Sunday.

* * *

"Hey Uncle Luke, how are things going?"

"Hi Jess, for the last time it's just Luke, and it's going well enough. What's going on, you usually don't call me unless something is wrong?"

"Nothing wrong exactly, just catching up, I'm going to be in the area for the next week, staying woth Rory. Thought I might be able to fit in a visit during the week?"

"Sure, come over whenever."

"I will. So, how are things with Lorelai?"

"You called me to ask about Lorelai?" Jess heard some rustling telling him that Luke had made his way into the stockroom.

"Rory may have expressed concern, thought I'd check in, make sure everything was ok there."

"I can look after myself and my own relationships Jess."

"I know that and tell me to butt out if you don't want to talk about it but answer me a question real quick, if you don't mind. Why the hell aren't you married to her yet?"

"We postponed the wedding but not it's not cancelled, we will be getting married."

"Right, you postponed so you could connect with April, you've done that now and Lorelai has met her, they got along"

"They did."

"Then marry her. You know Lorelai well enough to know that the waiting is killing her, she's going to end up leaving if you don't give her an answer."

"Thanks for the advice, I'll think about it. And you and Rory good?"

"We are good. I'll let you get back to the diner, the lunch rush must be getting close."

"Yeah, I'll see you soon Jess."

With that they both hung up, Jess had hoped Luke would at least think about what he had said. When Rory had texted him last night about what was going on he felt the need to pay back the favour of relationship advice his uncle had given him.

* * *

When Rory pulled into the Gilmore Mansion's drive she saw her mum was waiting for her with a cup of coffee in her hand. They hugged hello before Lorelai finished her coffee and they went to knock on the door. A small and frightened looking maid opened the door to them and took their coats before Emily rounded the corner to greet them.

"Hello, girls. Don't you both look lovely, did you arrive together today?"

"No, just a happy accident, both arrived at the same time."

"Ah, well come get drinks." She led them into to the living room where Richard was sat reading the paper. "Richard, the girls are here."

"Oh, Lorelai, Rory. How good to see you. Rory I meant to call and tell you, I found that book you were after, it's in my study." Richard got up to move.

"For heavens sake Richard, they aren't going anywhere, they've only just arrived, you can show her the book after dinner."

"Very well Emily."

The foursome settled into a comfortable conversation until the maid cam back out to tell them dinner was ready to be served.

* * *

"We've got to stop serving spaghetti and meatballs on Friday night dinners, it always makes you two fight for some reason." It was a theory that Emily had voiced a couple of times over the years. "Anyway, how are your calenders looking for this week girls?"

"Very busy week for me." Rory was a tad too quick to answer and all eyes at the table fell to her, Lorelai knew exactly why and also knew she wouldn't want questions being asked about it, she hadn't gotten round to telling them about Jess yet.

"Not too busy for me, just a business to run. What's going on with you mum?"

"I'm getting my eyes done."

"You're eyes done?"

"Lasik, laser eye surgery. There's a great doctor who will do it for me in a couple of days."

"That's great." Neither Rory or Lorelai knew how to react to this news but they thought it was suppsoed to be good news so smiled along with her.

"So, how is it going at Yale at the moment, Rory?"

"It's going well, I'm catching up from my time off, the paper is doing really well." She knew she was talking faster than normal, she didn't want the topic of Jess coming up quite yet.

"And no men on the horizon yet?"

"Mum..."

"Emily..."

Before Rory could say anything both Lorelai and Richard stopped her line of enquiry.

"I was just wondering how your social life was coming."

"Emily, her and Logan haven't been split for long, she doesn't need to jump into something yet."

"I know that Richard but that doesn't mean she doesn't have someone in mind."

"Rory, honey, maybe something to say?" Lorelai looked at her suggestively, she thought Rory should have come clean about Jess before now.

"Fine, I am actually seeing someone." She saw Richards face fall slightly but Emily smiled brightly.

"Really, well isn't that wonderful. Who is the gentleman?"

"His name is Jess, he is Luke's nephew, you met him once Mum." Rory had been dreading her Grandma making the connection but was grateful that her mum stepped in and gave her all the details.

"That hoodlum with a black eye. Oh, yes I remember him alright, you can't be serious Rory."

"He grown a lot since then Grandma."

"Emily, leave it alone. Rory, if you are happy with it then so are we, we trust your judgment." Richard jumped in to stop whatever Emily was going to say next.

"I am Grandpa, thank you. He's actually an author now, works in a publishing house, I'd love to show you his book."

"I'd love to read it."

"I'll bring a copy over."

"We have to meet him." Emily chimed in again.

"I'm not sure when that will be possible Grandma but we will plan something."

"Next week, bring him to Friday night dinner."

"That's very short notice, he could be busy."

"Well he can make himself less busy, we need to meet him so you will bring him here, next Friday."

"Mum..."

"No, don't try to stop this, now eat your desserts."

The girls shared a look, Rory in horror and Lorelai in sympathy, convincing Jess to come back into this house wasn't going to be good.


	22. Chapter 22

"No, I'm not going back there, Rory." Jess remembered that he had to go into that awful place, he knew he was a major factor in the evening going badly but he also knew from Luke that they would hate him on site.

"Please, my Grandpa will be there this time and he will get along with you great, just mention you love Hemingway, he's a huge fan."

"I don't think that will make any difference, I know the kind of guy they want for you Rory and I'm certainly not it."

"Ok, it's going to be a horrible evening, but please. They will make you meet them sooner or later and it's better to get it done."

"Urgh!" Would he deny this woman anything? "Fine, but you're gonna owe me big for this."

"I'll make it up to you, I promise."

* * *

Monday hadn't come round quick enough for Jess, the weekend dragged on as if it would never end. When Monday morning had finally arrived he was out the door by 6am dispite the fact he had been up talking to Rory until almost 2am, she had the morning off but wasn't expecting Jess until later. When he found himself awake at 5 he thought he would just go and surprise her. A few hours later he was outside her apartment block, it didn't look like the safest place but Rory had warned him about that, she had also promised that she was safe enough in there so he hadn't pushed the issue. He decided that instead of going up and potentially waking up Paris, a dangerous thing to do, he would call Rory.

"Morning, sleepy."

"Hey, you left yet?"

"Actually, was wondering if you wanted to get some breakfast with me?" Rory was slow while she waking up but she realised what he had said and made an excited noise down the phone at him. "Is that a yes?"

"Of course that's a yes, Paris is still asleep but give me 10 minutes and I'll come down to meet you, ok?"

"Sure, I'll be here, where's good for breakfast here?" He could hear rustling across the line as she rushed to get herself ready.

"We don't have a Luke's but there's a nice place down the street, walking distance, does great pancakes."

"Sounds good, I'll see you in 10."

Jess pulled out the book from his back pocket and settled on a bench across the road from the apartment block, although Rory said 10 minutes, that could mean anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes depending on if she gets accosted by Paris before she could leave. He was still sat there reading, he had gotten lost within the book and lost track of time, until he felt Rory sit next to him.

"Hey, you."

"Hey. So where's this breakfast place?"

He didn't want to admit it but he had been a little worried what the time apart would have done, if anything changed between them but his worries dissolved the second he saw her, he knew nothing had changed.

* * *

Rory had to go to the paper in the afternoon so Jess was left in the apartment to get some of his own work done, he decided he wasn't going to get anywhere with his writing so he took out one of the manuscripts the guys gave him and starting making notes, he was still doing that when Rory got back a little after 6.

"How was the paper?"

"Not bad, Paris still can't do anything without stressing me out but at least her and Doyle out tonight, what do you want to do tonight?"

"How about I cook you something?"

"Unless you want water for dinner I suggest something else." He laughed at that.

"How about we order in then?"

"Now you're talking." Rory laughed along with him then.

"Order whatever is good around here, and pick out a movie or two. You're pick for the night."

Rory was happy to just have a quiet night in with Jess after not seeing him for so long, there never felt like any pressure with him. She ordered some Chinese food from a good place nearby and picked out a couple of movies for them to watch.

"There better be no chick flicks tonight."

"No, I'm not as cruel as my mum. I've gone for the ever amazing breakfast club and The princess bride. If we have approval?"

"Sounds good to me."

They both settled in as the put on the first movie, they slumped comfortably on the couch. Jess had put his arm around Rory as she leant into him, she was glad to find that nothing felt any different than it did last time they had seen each other. Every now and again he would plant a small kiss on her temple or hair, the sudden knock on the door reminded them that they had ordered food. Rory laughed lightly as she got up to collect the food and pay the delivery man. She came back with enough food to feed an army which made Jess laugh out loud. He hadn't expected anything else from her.

They watched the movies without talking much, just enjoying each others company and the food. Jess had missed night like this with Rory, it was the best way to spend an evening. It was getting late as the second movie ended and he knew Rory had an early morning ahead of her so he suggested it was about time for bed and she had no delays in agreeing.

"I knew I was missing that t-shirt." Rory hadn't gotten changed for bed and he recognised the top that she had on over a pair of shorts as the last one of his he had given her to sleep in.

"I may have taken it home with me and forgotten to give it back to you." He watched as she began to blush. "It's comfy to sleep in."

"I know it is. I'm happy for you to have it though."

She laughed softly at him, he knew he didn't really have a choice in the matter, she was keeping it no matter what. He had gotten himself into a comfy pair of sweatpants for the night and settled himself into the bed next to Rory's small frame. He pulled her close so her back was against his front, he knew she was still awake when she moved against him, he couldn't help his body reacting to her movements but he turned his hips slightly in the hope Rory wouldn't notice anything. He kissed her temple and felt it as she moved her head slightly, gaining him acess to her neck and shoulder, he happily obliged by kissing her there too.

Suddenly he felt Rory turn in his arms and kiss him strongly, he was surprised but he kissed her back just as strongly. He put his arms around her back and pulled her close as he kissed her, another surprise came when she lifted her leg and put it around his, pulling his whole body flush to hers. He pulled away to look at her, she looked up at him for a minute before kissing him again.

"Rory, we should get some sleep." He pulled further away from her. He knew they were getting close to a point when he wouldn't be able to stop himself and he didn't want to pressure her at all.

"You want to go to sleep?" The look on her face was suddenly one of hurt.

"Hey, it's not that. I just don't want to push you Rory."

"You're not pushing."

She kissed him again then, and pulled him close to show him that she wanted to go further.

"Rory, are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure Jess, I promise."

He let himself go now, she was so confident in her answer and the look in her eyes told him that she had thought about this. He gave himself into her touch as her hands roamed across his torso, he rolled her over so he hovered above her keeping any weight off her. He allowed his hands to roam as well and enjoyed the reaction he got when he did. They enjoyed discovering each others sensitive areas, not wanting to rush anything. Their union was soft and gentle, conveying everything they felt for one another.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: I hope everyone is still enjoying the story, keep the reviews coming, always love to hear what you guys think.**

* * *

Jess was really enjoying his time with Rory, the last couple of days had been a great mix of take-out, movies and just some quality time with her. She had plenty of work to but he was determined not to effect her work at all while he was here, anytime she had to get something down he did some of his, he had worked his way through most of the work the guys had given him but had made no headway in his writing at all, he still couldn't figure out how it should end. He was very aware that Friday was looming ever closer and he was getting increasingly nervous about having to go back there, he knew it wasn't going to be a fun evening, even with Rory there, he was well aware of what they were like, Luke had shared many horror stories about dealing with the elder Gilmores. The silver lining is that he would still get the weekend with Rory after it all.

Rory could sense the tension in Jess as Friday got closer, she knew he was really not looking forward to it. She knew it was going to be an intersting Friday night dinner and she was glad her mum was going to be there this time as well, she was a good buffer in awkward situations, especially involving her parents. She spent Thursday afternoon and evening trying to keep him relaxed and not thinking about the next night, instead she agreed to let him plan a weekend of doing anything he wanted, she didn't need to get anything done over the weekend and he would need to unwind for a bit.

* * *

"You know I don't want to do this right?"

"Really, because you've hidden it so well."

"Will your mum already be there?"

"We won't go in until we are with her, don't worry, she's promised not to go without us either." They were just a few minutes away from the Gilmore mansion now.

"Is it too late to cancel?"

"Yeah, two minutes before we arrive is a little late Jess."

"What if you call and say I'm sick, food poisoning."

"No, I'm not turning around now, we have to go and we will be fine."

She pulled up the car outside her grandparents house, she could see how much Jess was dreading going in but she saw her mum pull up behind her, there was no putting it off any longer. They both got out of the car and were surpised to see Luke get out of the Jeep as well as Lorelai.

"Hey uncle Luke, I didn't know you were coming."

"Lorelai mentioned you were roped into this, thought you might need some moral support." Jess looked like he felt better already juust having Luke there with him.

"Thanks mum."

"That's alright, imagine the phone call I had to have with mother telling her I was bringing Luke too."

The girls laughed together at that.

"Right, let's do this."

All four walked forward and Lorelai pushed the doorbell as no one seemed else seemed to want to. A maid answered the door and took their coats and they saw Emily round the corner towards them.

"Girls, you look lovely tonight, as always." She went forward to greet them.

"Grandma, this is Jess." Jess extended a hand to shake Emily's hand and she took it softly and shook it once before dropping it again.

"Hello Jess, and Luke again." She led them all into the living room where Richard sat with a paper in his hands.

"Richard, we have company."

"Ah, Lorelai, Rory and Luke as well, great to see you all. And you must be Jess." Richard got out of his chair and extended a hand for Jess to shake. "Rory got your book to me a few days ago, I read it in a single sitting. Great piece of work."

"Thank you, sir." Everyone sat down then as Emily made drinks for the group.

"Would you like a beer again, Luke, Jess."

"No, just a water for me please."

"Water for me too please." Luke had warned Jess about the nit-wit juice incident so he knew beer was a no-go. "We are driving tonight."

Emily just grunted and passed everyone their drinks.

"So, Jess, are you writing anything new at the moment?" Rory was glad to see her grandpa at least was making an effort to be nice to Jess.

"I am, haven't figured out the ending yet but it's getting there. It's a longer novel this time round."

"Ah, well I'll be waiting eagerly. You do have a talent for the craft."

"Thank you, sir. I'm never so sure of my own stuff."

"Artists never are. It's like Rory with her articles, she'd read them once they were published and never be sure how she felt about them."

Jess laughed along with Richard in that, he knew Rory well enough to know it was true.

"So, Jess. You work in publishing?" Emily chimed in with the question.

"I do, it's an independant publishing house in Philadelphia, me and two other guys run it."

"In Philadelphia, that's a fair distance away."

"It is."

"And what if Rory gets a good job elsewhere after she graduates?"

"It's been a topic of discussion."

"It has?" Rory piped up then, they hadn't talked about anything like that, they hadn't really been together long enough.

"Between me and the guys, we are talking about possibly opening another branch, wherever you end up I could go with you." He said it all matter-of-factly, like he had planned it all out, whatever happened with her.

All eyes had fallen on the young couple at Jess's words, it was clear that this hadn't been a conversation between the two of them before tonight. Jess seemed uncomfortable with being the centre of attention but was happier in the knowledge that he had an answer to Emily's probing question. Then the maid came back in to let them know dinner was being served. The room seemed to exhale a collective breath as they got up to go through to the dining room. As they went through Luke gave Jess a small thumbs up in encouragment and he noticed Rory had been kept behind by her Grandpa.

"He seems like he's put a lot of thought into the future for you two?"

"Yeah, I know. I wasn't expecting that, but I should have, he really does think of us as lasting."

"I see that."

"Richard! Rory! Dinner will get cold." Emily shouted from the dining room.

"Wouldn't want a cold salad now would we." Richard whispered to Rory and they were both laughing as they carried on into the dining room.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Wow, lots of reviews the last couple of days, I'm glad to see the story is being enjoyed. I love writing the story and I feel like it's going to be going for a while yet, but I'm not sure how long it will end up being. I have an idea for another Jess fanfic but this time with an OC character. I loved writing the connection between Richard and Rory, I've always enjoyed their bond on the show and I hope I did it some justice. As always, keep reading and reviewing, love to hear from you all. I realise I got my timings wrong and in the show Doula isn't born yet but in this she was born a year previously, purely because I've mentioned her before and had completely forgotten when she was born, sorry for that.**

* * *

"I'm sorry hun, I know they are always though for you." Lorelai was comforting Luke as they all come out of the Gilmore mansion, they had spent a good portion of the dinner talking about Luke making a franchise out of the diner again.

"I came here to support you, it was supposed to be you that get all the stick tonight." He turned to Jess who laughed lightly at him.

"Thanks for taking the hit for me uncle Luke."

They all said their goodbyes and got into their respective cars, the men keeping to their words and driving back. Jess had gotten into the car and pulled out of the driveway, it was a few minutes until Rory realised they weren't heading towards her apartment.

"Where are you going?"

"You said I could plan the weekend."

"It's not the weekend yet though, where did you plan to haul me off to?"

"Don't worry you'll like it, and you should actually realise where we are heading by now."

"You are taking me to Stars Hollow for the weekend?"

"Aren't you about due a visit, and you haven't seen Doula yet, thought we might be able to sort a visit out while we were here?"

"That's sounds great Jess, I remember a time that you would go literally anywhere in the world but here."

"I remember too but honestly, this place was the best thing to ever happen to me."

Jess pulled up outside the diner and saw the light still on inside, he had planned it out with Luke so it would be a surprise for the girls but he wasn't sure if he had been able to keep it from Lorelai. He got his answer as they walked in the door and welcomed by a suprised scream by Lorelai as she ran to hug Rory.

"Kept it a secret then?"

"Did you doubt me?" A look of mock hurt came onto Luke's face.

"You knew about this?!" Lorelai had caught on and looked at Luke with outrage.

"It was better as a surprise, and you know it." With that Lorelai broke into a big smile.

"Yeah it was. So how long do I have my girl?" She looked at Jess now.

"I don't have to leave until Sunday night, Rory may be able to squeeze in another night."

"Perfect."

The girls found themselves a table while Luke and Jess went to sort them out some coffee.

"So, things going well with you and Rory still?"

"Yeah, pretty well, the distance sucks but this week of being with her has been great."

"That's good, you two seem to be doing well."

"What's on your mind Luke?"

"You're family Jess and you know you mean a lot to me."

"Yeah..." Jess was starting to get a little concerned, Luke was never one for conversation.

"Well, Rory means a lot to me too. You two have a bad track record when it comes to hurting each other."

"Are you trying to do the whole 'don't hurt my little girl' conversation, because I know you're more like a parent to her than her dad is but her mum already beat you to it." Jess was finding it hard to fight a smile.

"Quit smirking, and not exactly, more of a 'don't hurt each other' conversation."

"We're good Luke, no signs of hurting each other. And the last thing I want to do is hurt her."

"I know that."

They both headed back to the girls with the coffee in hand.

"Ah, that will always be a good sight." Lorelai swooned at Luke handing over a cup of coffee while he just smiled in return.

The foursome settled into easy conversation, mostly about how happy Lorelai was to have Rory back for the weekend and the chances of meeting up with Liz.

"So, I've got some thing to ask you." All eyes went to Luke who had been quiet for a while and was looking straight at Jess now.

"Shoot uncle Luke." He got a glare at the name but no comment.

"How would you feel being my best man?" The looks from everyone turned to shock, none more than Lorelai's, but Luke kept his eyes on Jess.

"Are you sure you want me up there with you?" Jess was shocked at the suggestion, he hadn't expected to be part of the day at all.

"I can't think of a single other person better for the job."

"Then of course I'll do it, I'd love to."

There was a slight moment of awkwardness as everyone realised there wouldn't be some show of affection between the guys, the girls started laughing as they looked at each other.

"I don't have to ask you do I?" Lorelai looked at Rory with a slight look of confusion.

"You want me to be your best man too?"

"I was thinking maid of honour, but whatever makes you happy." Both of the girls continued laughing loudly while the guys just looked at each other in confusion now.

"So, when do you want to do it?" Luke now looked towards Lorelai who looked back with a look of shock back on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"That we shouldn't delay any longer, things with April are good and you've met her now, let's do it."

Everyone just looked at him in surprise, this wasn't what they were expecting from the evening.

"Finally." Jess was the first to speak and it broke the tension, everyone laughed lightly at him and dissolved back into more comfortable conversation amoungst them.

"Right, time for bed."

"Dirty!"

"Mum, jeez, please not when its my boyfriend."

"I realised as soon as I said it that I shouldn't have, just forget that ever happened." Lorelai seemed slightly disgusted that she had come out with the automatic responce but Jess found it entertaining and had to fight laughing. "Instead I just say goodnight guys, and we will be over bright and early, Luke will be opening up here and I've got an early morning at the inn so set your alarms."

"Night mum, I'll see you tomorrow, make sure you set aside some time to spend with me this weekend."

"Always kid."


	25. Chapter 25

Saturday morning was spent at Lorelai and Luke's house, Lorelai had got caught up with wedding plans now she had been giving the green light by Luke, her excitement was contagious, even Jess and Luke were looking at the catalogues across the floor of the living room.

"What colours should we have?" Lorelai had been asking questions and then dismissing everyones answers for hours. "Is pink too girly?"

"You can have pink if you want." Luke didn't sound enthusiastic about that but he replied the same way he had for hours as well.

"So, no on pink then."

Jess and Rory had both given up trying to make decisions with her but found it amusing to watch Luke continue trying.

"Purple, less girly?"

"Sure, whatever you like."

"Ok, you give me a suggestion for a colour."

"It's your choice to make, I really don't mind."

"Rory, what do you think?"

"How about green mum, a nice light green."

"Ah, green, it's perfect, Luke?"

"I like green."

* * *

"Anything I should know before we go in there?" Rory and Jess were walking over to Liz's house for dinner, she found herself feeling nervous about what could be awaiting her in there.

"You'll be fine, Liz has already told me how much she approves of me making this work again so you have nothing to worry about. You're lucky I managed to talk her out of cooking for you though." He was glad it had made Rory smile at least, he could tell she was a little nervous about the dinner.

"We've fit a lot of family visits into a short period of time."

"Don't worry, this should be better than my lot at least."

Both of them were laughing as they neared the door. Jess reached up and knocked on the door, they heard yelling from behind the door and Rory saw Jess looking uncomfortable as they heard it continue after he knocked, he reached up and knocked louder, glad that the shouting came to a sudden stop, they both pretended not to have heard anything when Liz answered the door.

"Hey, you guys, come in, come in. Dinner shouldnt be long."

Jess could see tears behind Liz's eyes but decided not to pry, he found them arguing a lot lately but Liz clearly didn't want to talk about it yet. He would find out really quick when it came time that she wanted to talk. They both walked into the house and saw TJ sat in an armchair.

"Hey Jess, and Rory. How you doing?"

"Fine TJ, you?"

"Aw, I'm doing fine, getting lots of work nowadays, contracting keeps me busy."

"I'm sure it does." Rory could tell Jess had no time for TJ. "Where's that sister of mine anyway."

"She's in her playpen in the dining room, figured we would be in their most of the evening."

"Come meet her?" Jess looked at Rory now, he really just wanted an excuse to get out of conversation with TJ.

"Sure." Rory never felt confident in her skills with babies.

She watched as Jess bent over the playpen to get his little sister, she looked so fragile in his arms but he held her carefully. She just stood by the doorway as she saw him bounce her on his hip and making popping noises with his mouth at her, little Doula was laughing manically at him. It was good to see Jess with her, he was surprisingly great with the baby and seemed completely comfortable with her on his hip.

"Come here and meet her?"

Rory walked towards them and put out a hand, Doula grabbed hold of it and squeezed hard enough that Rory winced slightly but she didn't pull away. Jess moved closer to her and moved Doula so Rory could get hold of her. It was easier than she thought it was as she took the baby onto her hip, she bounced her like Jess had, even though she wasn't held by Jess anymore she still looked up at him as she laughed and kept hold of one of his hands. Liz came through with the dinner to see them like that.

"Hey, how is she doing?" She moved forward to see her in Rory's arms. "She likes you."

"Really?"

"Yeah she usually doesn't let strangers hold her, without screaming anyway." Rory was surprised at that, she seemed like such a calm child. "Come sit down and eat."

The foursome sat down to eat, conversation flowed but was interrupted by small arguements between Liz and TJ which Jess tried to ignore, as soon as he finished he turned back round to Doula, he liked coming to see his little sister.

"Do you guys want to put her down to bed, you can read her a story if you like, she looks pretty tired though so it might just take laying her down?"

"Yeah sure. Want to come?" Jess answered and looked towards Rory for confirmation that she wanted to join him.

"Of course." Rory got up as Jess bent to get hold of Doula and followed him upstairs to her bedroom.

Jess put Doula down in her bed gently and covered her with a small blanket. Both of them turned towards the door as they heard arguing from downstairs again.

"I'm sorry about them, they argue a lot."

"It's alright."

Jess settled in to sit down next to Doula and picked out a small book from a pile close to the bed, it was a picture book about horses, he flicked through it showing her the pictures while reading the story out loud to her, she seemed to have heard it and close to the end she was dozing off. Jess finished the story and stood up next to Rory as Doula sarting breathing deeply.

"You're really good with her."

"Well, she's a good kid."


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N:** **Wow,** **jordana60, thank you for the reviews, it was good to see your opinions as you read the chapters, I'm glad to see you enjoying them.**

 **Always love opions so everyone keep reviewing.**

* * *

Rory and Jess spent Sunday morning together in the apartment above the diner, it was the last time they had together before Jess had to get back. They had sorted out a weekend visit for Rory to make it to Phladelphia, she was insistant it was her turn and she wanted to see Truncheon again, and Matt and Chris too. The time to leave came too soon for either their likings, Rory knew the night with her mum would be great but she always missed Jess when they had to leave each other. Jess had left his car up at Rory's apartment so she drove him back up there to collect all his stuff and car.

"You got everything you need?"

"Yeah, we've triple checked the place, I don't think I left anything." Jess knew that Rory was stalling, he wished he could stay but he knew he had to get going soon.

"Ok, got snacks for the road?"

"I'm not you, I can last a few hours without piles of food." He laughed as he saw the look on her face at that. "There's places I can pull over for something to eat if I get hungry."

"And you'll call me when you get back?"

"I promise, we will talk more tomorrow as well, I know you'll be talking to you mum until late."

"I think she wants us to plan the entire wedding this weekend."

"Let me know what progress you make in it."

"Of course." She looked at him with sad eyes now. "You're sure you can't stay though?"

"Rory..." He knew if she kept looking at him like that he would buckle.

"Sorry, you're right, you have to go, you've already had a week away."

She still looked sad as she looked up at him but he managed to stay strong, he knew he had to go, Matt and Chris would kill him if he got back late from a week away. She walked him back down to the car and they kissed once more in goodbye before he got in his car and drove off, he looked in his mirror and saw Rory watching him until he turned the forst corner.

* * *

"So we settled on green theme, with daisies for flowers, we will have to take you shopping for maid of honour dress soon."

"Will you still use the wedding dress you found?" Rory had got back to be dragged into wedding talk right away.

"Yeah, it's the perfect dress so it's just yours to pick out, Luke says he will sort himself and Jess out suits."

"Where do you want to have it?"

"I was actually thinking the Dragonfly, we can have the ceremony out the back and the reception inside, Sookie is already talking about a 6 tiered cake."

"That sounds great, we could do a lot with the space out there. Sookie will make the best wedding meal for you guys"

"It will be the first wedding at the Dragonfly."

"Do you know when it will be?"

"I'm not sure, I want it to be before you go back for your final year, I feel like June 3rd has too much bad feelings surrounding it but how about in July sometime?"

"July will be good, let Luke know and choose a solid date together."

"Yeah, I suppose I should let him have some input."

Both of the girls laughed at that and started looking through some catalogues at dresses for Rory, they were still doing that when Luke came back with bags of food for dinner. He was thanked enthusiastically by both girls as he dished up all the food he brought, Lorelai was picking a movie to put on while Rory went to help Luke.

"Hey Rory, how's the wedding plans coming?"

"Really well, I think she's chosen pretty much everything she wants, do you feel like she's leaving you out?" Luke chuckled at her.

"God no, I'm not much for parties or planning, she can have anything she wants, I'm just choosing what I wear and that's because I have no idea what she would put me otherwise." Both of them laughed loudly at that.

They headed back into the living room with plates of food, the three of the settled in for a night of movies.

* * *

Jess arrived back in Philadelphia mid afternoon and was greeted by Matt who was in Truncheon working on a poems writings.

"Hey, how was New Haven?"

"It was good, what are you doing here on a Sunday?"

"My next door neighbour just got a new girlfriend, and apparently Sunday is their funday, loudly so I had to get out."

"Ow, sorry, what you working on?"

"Elliot gave these poems to look at a few days ago, they don't seem to be at his usual standard."

"I'm not talking to him again, you know anything we get from him when he's high is useless."

"I'll get on it, anyway, did you make progress on your book?"

"I made the decision on how to end it, just got to put it down on paper now, I've got the manuscripts you gave me with my notes."

"Got some work done then, I'll take a look at the manuscripts tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll stay down here, keep you company and try and get some writing done."

Jess should have known it was a bad idea, the two of them just ended up talking and laughing the afternoon and evening away, neither got any work done. He was happy to spend time with Matt though, he found himself missing his and Chris's company in the times he was alone at Rory's apartment. He loved being there with her but he was also glad to be home and that Rory would be there with him next weekend.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Sorry for my long absence, I've been having slight health issues and big case of writers block on this fanfic. The problem with knowing how to start but not planning past that.**

 **Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys and continue to review, always love hearing opinions.**

* * *

Time started to fly by for Rory, the end of the year at Yale was creeping closer, this was when Logan was graduating and leaving for London. She knew after this they wouldn't see each other again but she felt no reason to seek him out, she had said everthing she needed to ther. Instead she focussed on her time with Jess, she missed him horribly when they couldn't be together and they hadn't made any plans for over the summer yet, he had been so busy lately with finishing his book and getting ready for sale. Her plan at the moment was just to head back to Stars Hollow when Yale got out.

* * *

The day of Graduation was finally there, Rory really had no reason to stay for the ceremony, so instead she called her mum to collect her early, she worried if she stayed any longer Logan or his friends might try to find her.

"So, summer is upon us, Lane got back a couple of days ago, apparently the honeymoon was a bust, I'm sure she would love a visit from her best friend."

"I haven't spoken to her at all since the wedding, I'll go and see her tomorrow. I didn't realise the honeymoon went so bad."

"I don't know the details but I'm sure you will fill me in on it all." They pulled up outside the house and started to move all of Rory's belongings back in, she was planning on finding a new place to live before the end of summer.

"I always forget how much stuff I have until it's time to move it all again."

"Try not to unpack too much stuff, we will be moving it all again in a few months." Both of the women laughed lightly as they looked at the piles of boxes now stowed away in the bedroom. "So, can I ask, what's your plans with Jess this summer, you haven't mentioned him much the last few times we've called?"

"We haven't spoken much, he's busy sorting out his new book, I miss him but when he's ready to make plans he can call me."

"That sucks, we've got plenty to keep you occupied around here. You're ok?"

"I'm good, I like having time here and I know how he gets when he's busy at work, we will see each other soon." She knew she didn't sound too convincing, she hated not talking to him and him always being distracted, but she understood and was trying to give him the time he needed. She knew there would be time for them during the summer.

* * *

Time dragged for Jess, Matt had given a lot of notes on his book and he had spent weeks trying to make the book good enough to publish. Every time he thought he was making progress Matt had more notes on it, he knew it was because he was distracted. He could feel Rory's summer break coming on and he wanted to spend as much of it as he could with her and not distracted by the book. He ended up completely neglecting her to get it finished, he felt terrible but he knew if he was going to get any quality time with her he had to do it. He was hoping to get it finished before she broke for summer but instead it was a few days after, they had spoken and he had made the effort not to be so dismissive of conversation now she was done with school but he could her getting frustrated with him being so distant.

* * *

Rory needed distractions from missing Jess, she found it spending time with Lane, even though she was sick from some parasite she caught on her honeymoon, she was still good company and they spent hours talking about everything possible, Lane didn't seem to be getting any better so she forced the issue of a doctors visit and Lane finally agreed. While she went to see the doctor Rory went to get some lunch at Luke's, she noticed a crowd surrounding the diner.

"Hi Miss Patty."

"Hey college girl, you're looking good. That man of yours is good for you."

"Thanks. What's going on here?"

"Traffic light camera."

Taylor stepped forward then and announced the first law breaker, being Kirk, and how the camera will work. Miss Patty stepped forwards to drop a handkerchief as a signal to Kirk. As Kirk sped towards to traffic lights, the camera flashed a bright light which seemed to blind him causeing him to swerve and drive straight into the side of the diner. Luckily the diner was empty due to the ceromony so nobody was hurt, Luke looked less than happy about there being a car through his window though. Kirk jumped out of the car announcing he was fine, and with that everyone rushed in towards the car.

Rory, however, had moved her focus completely to a leather-jacket clad figure coming towards her as he came closer she made out his crooked smile that she had missed so much, they took in the sight of each other as they moved closer, there were no words needed as he took her in his arms and lifted her almost of the ground, their lips met with strength.

"What happened?" As they parted Jess seemed to finally take in the scene.

"Oh, Taylor included Kirk in a cermony for a traffic camera."

Jess nodded as if this was a perfectly adaquate explaination for there being a car in his uncle's diner.


	28. Chapter 28

"This wasn't exactly my plan for the summer." Jess had been helping his uncle get the supplies needed for fixing the diner window.

"I know, I'm sorry, it wasn't my plan either."

"I know, I know. Who let's Kirk drive anyway?" Luke just laughed at his nephew.

Jess hated to admit that he missed this place sometimes. He wa glad to finally make it down, he had convinced the guys to let him take an extended break before his book hit the shops, they kept pitching the idea of a book tour to build momentum for it. They had agreed he could stay until the wedding and he could bring Rory back with him for as long as he wanted when he returned, he ahdn't mentioned this plan to Rory yet but he was sure she would be happy to visit for a while before school started again.

"So how are plans for the wedding coming anyway?"

"As far as I know it's all done, chances are Lorelai will change her mind about half of it before the day but I'm sure it will work out in the end."

"Not nervous at all?"

"Not at all, we have taken this long getting here, I think nerves are long past."

"Good, I'm glad you two finally got here."

"Me too."

The two got to work trying to fix the wall of the diner.

* * *

"I'm pregnant."

"No!"

"Yes! Pregnant, I'm going to be a mum, a mum. I don't even know how to look after myself."

"Wow, a baby. You'll be a great mum, Lane."

"Sure, when I'm older and have my life together more than I do now."

"You're married, you have your life, and now a baby."

"Urgh, a baby."

"Urgh? What does Zach say about it?"

"I haven't told him, how do I tell him that?"

"Well you told me, just do the same with him."

"He'll freak out, he won't know what to do. We were supposed to have time with just us, kids were supposed to be a future possibility, not now."

Rory just sat with her friend quietly and let her vent her frustration, she kenw her friend and knew she would see the good side of this soon. She had complete faith that her and Zach would be great parents.

* * *

Rory was happy that Jess had arrived back in Stars Hollow, she had missed him so much when they were apart. Now all his time was taken over by helping with the diner but at least they had evenings together and she hoped it wouldn't take too long to fix. Her and her mum could see it was looking much better so went in to check on things.

"Hey, looking much better in here now."

"Yeah, we're nearly done, can open up again in a couple of days."

"You know, while you're closed, we could spruce up the place a bit."

"No, no, no, no, no. I let you paint the place before, it doesn't need another spruce."

"Just a little reworking of space, new chairs and tables, maybe thinking about the colouring?"

"No, not again."

Rory and Jess left them to it and moved around to the counter, this conversation would go on a while, but it amused them both.

"Coffee?" Rory just gave him a look. "Right, why ask, there you go."

"Thanks." They stood there leaning there backs against the counter in silence, just watching the conversation play out.

"Are they always like this?"

"Yeah pretty much. So you're nearly done here, does that mean we get more time together soon?"

"All my time is yours as soon as this is finished, I'm here until after the wedding so we have a couple of months yet."

"And after the wedding?"

"I have to go back to work, but Matt and Chris have made it very clear they would happily have you around for as long as your able after that." He found himself slightly nervous as he said it, he wasn't sure how she would feel about an extended time at Truncheon.

"I suppose I'm available for the second half of my summer, if you're as happy as the guys are to have me?" He smiled at her as she said that.

"You even have to ask?"

* * *

"So double date?" Jess wasn't sure he was going to enjoy this. "What exactly does that entail?"

"Could be anything knowing my mum, but I just think we are in for an evening of Luke's food and a couple of movies, nothing too bad."

"Fine." Like he would ever say no to her. "Do we at least get a say in movies this time, I don't want a night of chick flicks again."

Rory just laughed at the suggestion and Jess found humself nodding, he knew he didn't stand a chance of picking a movie.

* * *

"Got dragged into this too, huh?"

"Yep."

"Wanna help with the food?"

"Sure." Jess settled into the work in the kitchen, he had gained some knowledge of cooking since his time with his uncle.

"So, how are things?"

"Fine. Book is done, it will be rolling out soon."

"And Rory?"

"Things are good there, rough with the distance but we are making it work."

"Ok, I really think you can make this work this time."

"I hope so."

"Something smells good in here." The girls both had come into the kitchen at the smell of cooking food.

"It will be ready soon. Sit." Jess laughed at Luke trying to get Lorelai away from the oven.

"I didn't know you cooked." Rory had come around to look over Jess's shoulder.

"Bits and pieces." She raised her eyebrows slightly and went to sit at the table next to her mum.

"Let me cook something?"

"No!"

"No."

"No!"

All three said it simultanously at Lorelai and started laughing amongst themselves while Lorelai attepted to look hurt and failed.

"I'm not that bad."


	29. Chapter 29

"So final week before the wedding, nervous?" Rory had agreed to spend the next few evenings indulging her mum with wedding talk.

"Not nervous at all, it's weird."

"You want to feel nervous?"

"No, but I thought I would. I feel happy and excited, but not nervous."

"I think that's a good sign."

"I think so too."

"You want to try the dress on again don't you?" For the last two night she had been trying on the dress, making sure it all fit perfectly, she never got tired of hearing the compliments about.

"Yeah kind of." Both of the girls laughed as they headed upstairs again.

* * *

"How's your mum doing?" Jess missed Rory but he understood she needed time with her mum before the wedding, they would be leaving shortly after.

"She's doing well, excited about Saturday. Luke?"

"His usual self, an onlooker wouldn't believe he was getting married this weekend but he's excited. I think a part of him never thought this would happen."

"Same with my mum, there was always something in their way. I'm happy they managed to get here."

"Me too, they seem really happy."

"I think they are." He looked at her as she smiled at the thought. "Anyway, what's the plan for after the wedding?"

"Well I kind of got them a gift, a few days away. I figure we will stick around until they get back and then we can head back to Philadelphia."

"You got them a trip away?"

"Yeah, I thought they'd like a small honeymoon, the inn can run between Sookie and Michele and I can help with the diner. It's just a few days."

"Where are you sending them?"

"I thought they'd like Paris, apparently it's nice there."

"That's so sweet of you Jess. Who knew you had it in you?"

"Alright, alright. It wasn't that sweet, and I have a selfish reason behind it, I get you to myself for a few days too." She laughed then. He was really a big softy.

* * *

"Isn't it a bit late to be having dress fittings?"

"Well, April, you haven't been here for a while so we had to wait to do yours. I figured we could wait doing the last ones for everyone until you got here."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I know, but now you get the whole experience." April smiled then, she was enjoying her time here with Lorelai, Rory and Sookie, they were doing the final fittings of their bridesmaids dresses.

"I can't believe you made these dresses yourself, they're really great."

"Aren't they just, she always makes great stuff." The voice had coome from the kitchen, Sookie had made a feast for the fittings, even though there was only four of them.

"I'm glad you all like them, April try to stay still hun."

"Oh right sorry."

"I don't want to stick you."

"How does it look?"

"You look great in it, really suits you." Rory chimed in with the compliment, she really did look good in the dress her mum had made.

"Ok, all done, be careful as you take it off, I have some alterations to make." April headed upstairs then.

"She seems to be enjoying it all."

"Yeah, I'm glad she does. Shows Luke he didn't have to worry about it."

"It's really nice of you to let her be a bridesmaid as well."

"She's a good kid." She came back down then and they stopped talking about her. "Right, Rory your time, go get into your dress we will see what we need to do."

It didn't take long to do the fittings for Rory and Sookie, there wasn't much that needed doing. Lorelai then set herself up to make all the alterations, she made herself a small nest on one of the chairs of fabric and thread.

"Let's get the movies started."

"I've got the food." Sookie came in carrying out a couple of trays of snacks and finger food for the movie.

"What are we watching?"

"Well we decided on wedding themed movies, as many as we could find, need to see how many we can fit in the next couple of days."

"We can get through the whole damn pile."

All three of the other women laughed at Lorelai's outburst.

"Well, the bride get's her way so let's get started."


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Sorry for neglecting this story slightly, been trying to write the wedding. Hopefully it comes out well, as always please review I love to hear reviews.**

* * *

Her wedding day was finally happening, Lorelai looked in the mirror and saw how the dress suited her perfectly, it sat just right. She couldn't wait to see Luke's face when he saw her walk towards him. Rory came in the door behind her.

"Oh, mum. You look incredible, Lane did a great job on your hair and make-up."

"Look at you in your dress, I definetly made some good ones this time."

"Weel everyone will be looking at you today." She looked her mum up and down, she really looked beautiful. "Everyone is seated downstairs, grandma is complaining, grandpa is getting her a drink. He will be up soon to see you."

"Everything alright down there?"

"Yeah, I've got everything under control, nothing for you to worry about." Lorelai smiled at her then, she knew Rory would try to minimise the stress of the day for her.

"Thank you honey."

The door opened then to Sookie and April both ready in their dresses.

"Look at you two, you all look so great."

"Are we supposed to say that about you?" April chuckled as she asked. "You do look really beautiful in that dress."

"Thank you April. Let me see you all together." The girls all lined up in front of Lorelai so she could see them all. She was happy with how the dresses had come out, all slightly different styles to suit the different shapes of them, but the pale green colour suited them all. "You all look so great in them, make sure to get lots of pictures today."

"Don't worry, we have all that covered, there will be hundreds of pictures of everything today."

The door opened again then to Richard.

"Oh Lorelai, you're a vision."

"Thank you, dad. You look great in your suit."

"New suit, for such a special day. Are you ready to do this?"

"Yeah, I really am." He walked forward to hug her and when he let go he took hold of her arm to link with his.

"Let's got down there, don't want to leave that man of your waiting any longer to marry you." All the girl laughed as Richard said that.

Lorelai nodded to her dad and he waved the bridesmaids ahead of him, all them sending a smile to her, Rory came forward and gave her mum a quick hug, before leaving the room. Lorelai followed on her dad's arm, they all headded downstairs where they slowed down. She watched as April went first out the back of the inn and down the short aisle, Sookie followed and then Rory.

"Your turn." Her dad turned to her then, kissed her cheek. "Let's do this." She smiled up at him.

They walked slowly out of the back the inn, she saw everyone stood up and turned towards her. She smiled at the faces she saw but then Luke caught her eye. He was smiling so broadly and his eyes were wide as he looked at her. It wasn't long until she reached the end of the aisle and her arm was passed to Luke's by her dad, she smiled up her dad again as he declared he was the one giving her away. The ceremony went off smoothly, they stuck to traditional vows as neither of them had any luck with writing their own. As they turned back around they were surrounded by family and friends hugging and kissing their cheeks, she clung onto Luke's hand as they were passed between people.

The day ran perfectly, Rory watched as Luke, Jess and her grandpa gave speeches, she gave a small speech herself abouthow happy she was for her mum. The buffet was full of amazing food by Sookie, Lane and her band agreed to make a come-back for the wedding. Everyone seemed to be having a great day, especially Luke and her mum.

"You enjoying yourself?" She looked from the dancing married couple to see Jess sat beside her.

"Yeah, it's been a great day, you?"

"Yeah, it has been. Weddings aren't usually my thing but it's been fun." She smiled over at him, she knew she was happy for his uncle and Lorelai.

The song finished and Luke and Lorelai came to sit back down to eat something, they both were smiling widely.

"You happy mum?"

"The happiest, kid. You happy?"

"Yeah."

"So, Uncle Luke, Lorelai, I got a you guys a gift."

"You got a present?" Luke looked shocked at his nephew.

"Well don't look too shocked, your supposed to get presents."

"Right." He took the envelope from Jess and opened it to reveal the tickets and details of there four day holiday.

"Wow Jess." Lorelai had looked over Luke's shoulder to see. "This is great."

"Figured you'd like a small honeymoon, everything is sorted here. Me and Rory will still be here when you get back, we can all catch up before we leave."

"Thank you Jess, that really nice of you." Luke looked as if he wasn't sure what to say for the present.

"It's nothing really, I'm glad you guys like it."

"I love it." Lorelai stood up then and put her arms out. "Come here you." Jess looked reluctant as he stood up and briefly hugged Lorelai befpre he could sit back down Luke caught him in his own hug which Jess returned just as reluctantly.

He quickly grabbed hold of Rory's hand before he could get dragged into any other form of appreciation from the two of them.

"I told you they'd love it. It was a great thing you did."

"Yeah, yeah." She laughed as she saw a slight blush come up his cheeks.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry. I've had a serious case of writers block for this fanfic, and been neglecting it completely. I'm sorry to say this story is coming to it's end, mainly because it's starting to go into series 7 which I'm having trouble incorporating into this story. But some good news, I am thinking of doing a sequel based on after Rory graduates, I feel like I can possibly do more with Rory and Jess during that timeline. Please let me know what you think of the idea. As always, please read, review and enjoy :-).**

* * *

"So, Paris?" Lorelai was looking through the information Jess had passed to her for their wedding gift, Luke looking over her shoulder.

"You don't like Paris?" Luke sounded confused as he backed away from her.

"Just don't know where Jess got the idea for this, it must have cost him a fortune. I just didn't expect it."

"Me neither, but you like it right?"

"Are you kidding, I love it." He took the envelope from her hands then to look through the information.

* * *

Rory was driving her mum and Luke to the airport and had dragged Jess along with her so they could all say goodbye. It wasn't a long drive and Luke and Jess managed to get all the luggage out of the back of the car.

"Jeez mum, you're going for four days, there's enough stuff here for weeks."

"I tried to tell her that but she didn't listen." Luke was the one to reply to her as he grabbed the last bag out the car.

"It's all essential things, things I will use."

"Yuh-huh." Jess had gone to get a luggage trolley and came back to hear the statement, he laughed lightly. "Like you can talk, the last weekend you spent at Truncheon, you brought two bags, one just full of books." He looked towards Rory then as she tried to deny being as bad as her mum, she quieted when she realised it wasn't working at all.

"Let's get inside." Luke had put all the luggage onto the trolley and led the group into the airport.

"You got everything you need?" Rory lagged behind slightly to talk to her mum.

"Yeah, I'm all good. Did Jess come up with all this himself?"

"He didn't tell me until a couple of days ago, I was just as shocked."

"You picked a good one kid." She just laughed lightly and nodded at her mum.

They approached the men, they had found seats and had settled themselves while they waited for them. They kept a comfortable conversation going until Luke annouced they needed to get going through security. He touched Jess's shoulder and took him away for a moment, he knew the girls would want an extra minute to say their goodbyes in private.

"This was a really great thing you did."

"Don't mention it." He smiled at how uncomfortable Jess was looking at the compliment.

"I mean it Jess, this means a lot to both of us."

"It's nothing huge uncle Luke, just a trip away. You guys deserve a honeymoon and I knew you didn't plan one, so I took it on myself to book one for you."

"Well, thank you."

"You're welcome." He laughed again at how uncomfortable Jess was as he dragged him in for a quick hug.

"Aww, look at our guys." Lorelai made her arrival known. Both Jess and Luke looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "We need to get going, and you two have a few days of disgustingly romantic alone time together to get to."

"You're the ones going to your honeymoon." Jess was the one to chime in with the logical point.

"And you, I like you." He winced as he was pulled into another hug with Lorelai this time. "You did good. See you when we get back."

"Ok, people seriously have to stop hugging me now." He pulled himself away from Lorelai's embrace. "You're both very welcome for the present, it wasn't anything major. I hope you enjoy it. Now please go and have your honeymoon."

The rest of the group just laughed lightly at him, he couldn't help the smile that came onto his face. He watched as Rory hugged her mum goodbye again and then came back to his side, he pulled her close to his side as they watched the elder couple going through the security, both of them waved just before they went out of view.

* * *

Jess was enjoying all the alone time with Rory while Luke and Lorelai were away, they had the house to themselves. Jess only had to cover one shift at the diner, Lane had agreed to cover the rest of the time Luke was away. Other than that they barely left the house at all, he couldn't remember a time he had been this happy or relaxed. Rory recieved daily calls from her mum, updating them on the great time they were having in Paris.

"They really are loving it there." Jess smiled over at her as she said that, she had said the same thing the last two days after the phone call.

"So you keep saying." He heard her laugh lightly. "We should do it."

"Do what?" She seemed confused as she asked.

"Do a trip somewhere, anywhere you'd like."

"Really?"

"Yeah, where would you like to go?"

"I...Don't know, where would you want to go?" She heard him laugh at her then.

"I don't care where we go, I'll be with you and that's all I need. It's not like you have to pick right now, just keep it in mind."

"Ok..." She looked confused again.

"What are you thinking?" He pulled her closer to him on the couch then.

"Why the sudden need for the holiday?"

"Not a need for a holiday, just thought it might be a good idea. Your mum and Luke seem to be enjoying theirs."

"They are."

* * *

Lorelai was looking out of the window of the hotel when she felt Luke come up behind her and put his hands around her waist.

"I can't believe we have to go home tomorrow." She lent her head back against his shoulder.

"You've enjoyed the honeymoon then?"

"I've loved every minute. The company being the best part of course." She felt him smile as he kissed her temple gently. "You've enjoy it too, right?"

"Of course I have." She turned in his arms then and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Sad to go home?"

"A little, I'm going to miss all this time we've been having together. But I'm glad to be back, sleeping in my own bed again."

"I second that." She pulled herself closer and kissed him strongly. "Got to thank Jess again for this, this was a great idea of his." She laughed as he said that.

"I don't think he would like that very much, but he definetly did an amazing job with this."

"He really did."


	32. Chapter 32

Jess covered his ears at the squeals that came from Rory beside him as they saw Lorelai come through the gate, he watched her run towards her and they collided strongly both of them tumbling to the floor, he was concerned until he saw then both laughing wildly while still sat there. Luke walked straight past them and to his side. He allowed his uncle to give him a short hug as a hello, he had never seen him smile so broadly, he was glad the trip had gone down so well. They looked back to see the girls had finally got off the floor and were making their way towards them.

"Ah, my hero!" He sighed loudly as Lorelai grabbed him into a hug of her own. "Seriously great present, the best present."

"I'm glad you enjoyed. Both of you, you look really happy." He had managed to work himself out of Lorelai's arms as he spoke.

"Very happy." Luke just nodded as Lorelai answered him.

"Good, let's go get the piles of luggage you took." He walked with Luke as the girl fell into pace behind them.

"I was right, she didn't use half of what she took, there's one bag we didn't even open the whole time we were away." He heard Lorelai laugh from behind them.

It wasn't long until they were all back in the car and on the way back to Stars Hollow.

* * *

"So, how was your alone time with Jess, or do I not want to know?" Rory laughed as her mum asked the question.

"Mum, seriously!" Her mum laughed back at her.

"Well, the two of you, having the whole house to yourself for four days."

"Mum, I'm so not having this conversation with you." Her mum just laughed at her as she blushed, it was cut short as the guys returned from the kitchen.

"Do I even want to know?" Jess sounded confused as he sat next to her.

"No you don't." He laughed at her responce.

They spent the evening talking about the Paris trip, all the things they could share with the present company anyway. Rory smiled as she listened to all the stories, both of them seemed to have really enjoyed their trip. When both Luke and Lorelai started yawning widely it was time to turn in for the night.

"How long are you guys staying here?" Lorelai directed the question towards Jess.

"We leave Monday morning, so you've got a few days of us left. Oh, and Liz wants us all over for dinner one night." He laughed as he saw the look that came onto Luke's face at that.

"We are wanted at the grandparents for Friday night dinner too." The addition from Rory made Lorelai pull a similar face. "Welcome home!" Jess laughed out loud then and heard Rory join in.

"We should get to bed before you fall asleep mid sentence." Luke directed his statement towards Lorelai who nodded slowly, already looking like she was falling asleep already.

Jess stood up then and took Rory's hand as she stood up with him. She hugged her mum and Luke goodnight while keeping hold of his hand, she heard him laugh at the awkwardness of the transaction. Luke saw them out of the house, he offered both of them the apartment above the diner for the next few days and they had gratefully taken him up on it.

* * *

"What time are we meeting your mum today?" It was early morning when Jess had felt Rory stir beside him.

"Not until this afternoon, they needed the sleep."

"What's the plan?" He felt Rory laugh as she still lay against him.

"I don't think there is any plan."

"Sounds about right."

"They seem really happy, don't they?"

"Yeah, they do. They finally got there, took them long enough." He felt her laugh again.

"I didn't really realise it at the time, but it was a long time in the making for them two."

"How do you mean?" He hadn't heard much about their relationship from before he knew them.

"All through my childhood he was there, he was the one she call whenever she needed someone. She could get him to do anything, things he would never do for anyone else. Then I just saw him a close friend, someone we could both depend on completely. Looking back on all the interactions now though, there was always something there."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the way they look at each other. I should have seen it coming for years."

"I saw it the first day I met your mum."

"You did not!"

"I did, I was a jerk about it but ask her. I accused her of sleeping with him."

"You're kidding?"

"I genuinly thought they had something going on, she was telling me how great he was and how lucky I was to have him in my life. Like I said, I was a complete jerk to her about it, but I saw something there."

"I guess it was around that time that I started to notice things between them, but I never really put the pieces together."

"Probably because both of them were adament there was nothing there." She laughed at him again then and he saw her nod her head, he heard a slight grumble coming from her stomach. "Time to get you fed."

* * *

"So, when are you dragging us to Liz's?" Luke came to join Jess at his table at the diner.

"She says Saturday night is best for her." Jess answered him. "It shouldn't be so bad."

"No, I'm sure the Gilmore dinner will be worse for us all, just have to convince her to let me cook." He heard Jess laugh at him then. "Where are the girls?"

"Something about cake."

"Cake?"

"Yeah, Rory saw a sign at Weston's about some new cake, she grabbed Lorelai and swooped her off to get some. She said they would bring some back for us."

"That's likely." Jess laughed again then and it was cut short by the girls coming into the diner. "Hey, sit. Lunch."

"Wow, the romance is already dead. Less than a week married and we are down to single word sentences." Both Rory and Jess laughed at the interaction between them.

"I brought you cake." Rory exclaimed to him as she sat down next to him, Lorelai was still standing and talking.

"Lunch first?" She looked at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Fine. Please sit down so I can bring you lunch for you to eat?" Both of them looked back up at the sudden exclamation from Luke, Lorelai was smiling widely as she sat down opposite Rory. "She's crazy." Rory laughed as Luke turned to her.

"Oh I know."

Luke went to the counter to grab the food and was bringing it back when he saw both of the girls opening the boxes of cake they had brought back. In a swift motion he had taken the cake from Lorelai and replaced it with her burger.

"Hey!"

"You'll get it back. I know you've already had at least one piece, burger next." She pouted but picked up her burger. He noticed Jess was having no luck getting Rory to do the same, her burger being neglected while she ate the cake.

"I thought this was for me?"

"What's yours is mine." The group laughed loudly at Rory's statement and Jess's attempt to get a spoonful of the cake.

* * *

The next few days went by too quickly for Rory's liking and she noticed Jess getting more anxious the closer it got to Friday. She knew how much she hated going to her grandparents and with dinner with Liz being the night after, tensions were running high. Luke had managed to talk Liz into letting him do the cooking but it had taken many loud phone calls.

"She's insane, now she knows I'm cooking she wants a three course gourmet meal. Apparently she was going to cook it all, but since I offered..."

"I'm sorry hun. Just cook whatever you want, it'll be great." Lorelai attempted to cheer him up after the last phone call.

"Yeah. She doesn't think TJ will be there, some bust up between them."

"That can't be good."

"Could be an eventful evening. Tonight won't be much better."

"My dad is really start to like you and Jess for that matter."

"It's your mum, she can't stand either of us."

"She'll come round." She heard him laugh then. "Ok, no she won't but she will survive."


	33. Chapter 33

"Girls, don't you look wonderful this evening." Rory hugged her grandma briefly in hello. "Luke and Jess, hello." Both of them just nodded towards her and she led them through to the living room. "Richard, they're here." He lowered his paper as they approached.

"Ah hello. Marriage is suiting you Lorelai."

"Thank you dad." She took the drink her mum passed to her along with everyone else.

"It was a beautiful ceremony."

"Small but beautifully done." Her mum chimed in with the half compliment, her tone bright.

"Well, thanks mum."

"So, you went on a trip for a few days?" Her dad was the one to ask her.

"Yeah, it was Jess actually, he booked us a little honeymoon."

"How lovely." She tried to ignore the tone her mum used then. "Where did you send them?" Jess was surprised the question was pointed at him.

"It was Paris, just a few days away."

"Hmm, so many places in Europe to go..."

"And Paris was just amazing. A really great wedding present." She harden her tone then, stopping the conversation.

"Well, how are you two enjoying married life so far?" She smiled at her dad as he tried to fill the awkard lull.

"The presents are still coming so that's keeping me happy for now." He chuckled lightly at her.

"And things at the inn are going well, and the diner?"

"The inn is great, it ticked along well enough while I was away."

"Diner is good too, still going strong."

"I don't suppose you've thought about the franchise idea again?"

"Emily, he had made his displeasure of that subject known. Leave the man be." Her mum fell into silence at her dad's words then.

"Speaking of business going well, you will never guess who I spoke to just yesterday." She didn't wait for a reply. "Shira Huntzberger. Logan is doing so well in London, really taken to the business world. He's back visiting them for a few days."

"That's great. I'm glad he's doing well there." Rory replied quietly, this wasn't exactly the conversation she wanted.

"He always had a good business head on him."

"Yeah, I always knew if he applied himself he could go far." Rory found herself happy that Logan was doing well for himself.

"Well, he has gone far."

"Mum..." Rory saw her mum look at her grandma then in discomfort.

"I'm just relaying information Lorelai, Shira said he had wanted to contact Rory to tell him it was going well."

"Well, thank you for letting me know then grandma." She didn't want this to turn into a big argument.

"He very much wanted to talk to you..."

"We haven't spoken in a long time, really nothing to say to each other."

"Well, he has plenty to say, that's why I offered him a seat tonight. Give you two a chance to catch up a little." There was a knock on the door. "That must be him now." She got up to greet him.

"Mum..." Rory looked to her mum for help but she just got a apologetic look back.

"I'm sorry hun." She turned to her dad then. "Did you know about this?"

"No I didn't." Rory realised her grandpa wasn't looking happy.

"Well, he's here and doesn't he look good Richard." He didn't reply to her as she walked back into the room followed by Logan. "You may not have met Rory's friend, Jess."

"Hey Ace." She couldn't help the wince at the old nickname. "I have met Jess before."

"Rory, don't be rude, he came here to talk to you. Why don't you two go talk privately." She felt Jess tense behind her but he was staying silent.

"Grandma, why would you invite him?" She asked the question before she made the decision to.

"I told you, he was doing well and wanted to reconnect with you. I thought it would be nice for you both."

"Mum..." Lorelai was in shock that her mum had done this, with no warning.

"I...I'm sorry... I gott get out of here." Rory stood up then and started towards the door, Jess stood up with her to follow but saw Logan reach out to grab her, he quickly found himself between them with one of his hands on Logan's stomach. It wasn't pushing against him but it held him firmly at bay.

"Rory..." He still tried to push past him causing him to push harder against him.

"Don't..."

"Now gentlemen, there's no need to for pushing." It was Emily who had spoken but Jess was more concerned with the sound of the door he heard behind him signalling Rory walking out. He backed up from Logan then as if to follow her.

"This is just..." He had to stop himself from losing his temper, he knew he would say something bad if he allowed himself to.

"Jess, why don't you go out there with Rory, we will follow." Luke jumped in to try to help calm him down.

"Now, the young man has something to say to me, let him say it." He felt his blood boil as Emily said that and he couldn't keep it in any longer.

"This is typical! You can't just let her be, you can't just let her make her own choices. Do you even care what he did to her, that he was terrible for her, that she left school and he did nothing to get her back there, that the second things got rough he fell into other people's bed's, plural. You're still pushing her back to him because of his rich family." He was running out of steam now and he saw the different levels of shock on everyone's faces. "Doing this didn't hurt me, it won't affect me at all or my relationship with Rory, we will be fine and I will be around for as long as she wants me here. All this did was hurt Rory and it will put another distance between you two."

"I will not be spoken to like this by you!"

"You just hurt the person I love, so I will talk to you how I damn well please." He didn't wait for a responce as he turned to the door to follow Rory.

"Richard!" She was clearly hoping for some backup from her husband.

"If I knew you were going to do this, I would of told you how ridiculous of an idea this was." That seemed to be all he wanted to say on the matter. Lorelai saw her dad looking more unhappy than she had seem him for a long time. She looked up when she heard Jess reenter the room.

"Rory's gone, she took the Jeep." He looked so worried as he was walking back towards her.

"Here, call a cab. She's probably just gone home, we will meet you out there in a minute." She threw her cell to him and watched as he walked back out of the house. She felt Luke's arm tighten around her slightly before letting go to follow his nephew.

"Lorelai..." She looked daggers to Logan as he attempted to talk to her.

"That's Mrs Gilmore to you, and you don't get to talk right now."

"No you don't." She smiled over to her dad as he stood to tower over Logan before turning back to her mum.

"You had to know this would go badly, not even you could think this was a good idea. She is with Jess now and happy, mum. Now enjoy your dinner with your guest, we are going."

"Now Lorelai..." She was shocked to see her mum seemed to be about to stop her leaving.

"Let her go Emily. I'm not hungry anyway." She watched as her dad went out into his study and left her mum stood in the living room with Logan.

* * *

"I have never known anyone to talk to my mother like that, I've had my blow-outs with her but it's interesting to see from the outside." She was sat in the cab next to Jess, he looked terrible with his head in his hands.

"I shouldn't have done that, it was stupid of me." She could hardly make out the words.

"Hey..." She felt a hand on her arm now, Luke just shook his head at her and she fell quiet.

Jess was out of the cab before it had fully got to a stop, she followed slower while Luke paid the driver. She heard him yell Rory's name but didn't hear a responce, as she approached the door she saw him resting against the wall and he waved her towards the kitchen. She was confused why he hadn't gone in there himself.

"She's safe, my job is done. She needs you right now." She smiled and touched his arm softly.

She walked into the kitchen to see her daughter sat at the kitchen table.

"So, when you say you've gotta get out of there, we all just thought you meant outside."

"I'm sorry, I saw his car just sat there and I just had to leave, I couldn't deal."

"I get that, did you have to steal our way home as well?"

"Sorry, again. Jess...?"

"Was worried but I think he's ok now, he got pretty angry back there with your grandma."

"He didn't?"

"Oh he did, he yelled a lot and told her she had hurt you, there was even a 'damn' thrown in there."

"Oh god."

"I think he feels bad about it now but speaking from experience, I bet it felt pretty good in the moment."

"Mum..."

"She deserved it and he was right in everything he said back there." She sat down next to her and put a hand on her arm. "He stuck up for you in there, against the mighty Emily Gilmore, that's a special guy. He's really in love with you."

"I can't believe he did that."

"And then you terrified him by disappearing, you should have seen him, utter panic. You were so upset and he didn't know what state you were in, driving home by yourself."

"You're right, I was awful."

"No honey, you were upset and he understands. You owe him a hell of an apology though."

"Yeah I do." She stood up then and they linked arms to walk through to the living room. They saw both of the men sat on the couch.

"So, Friday night dinners strike again." Lorelai got what she aimed for as everyone laughed lightly.


	34. Chapter 34

Jess felt terrible about the way he had spoken to Rory's grandma, he had tried to stop himself but she had drawn it out of him. She had me him so mad, and that guy just added to the anger. He was walking back to the diner with Rory, he was sure she knew what had happened by now, he mum would have filled her in, but she hadn't said anything to him about it. They were both silent as they entered the apartment above the diner and it was starting to get to him.

"Drink?" He walked into the kitchen.

"Soda's good." He was glad he got some response as he grabbed two soda's from the fridge. "I'm sorry about tonight."

"Why?" He was confused at the apology, he was getting ready to apologise to her.

"For my grandma, she was awful to you, and for leaving you there like that." He ushered her to sit on the couch then.

"Rory, none of this was your fault. It's just the way your grandma is, we knew she didn't like me and that she loved you with that guy. As for leaving, I understand why you did, I wish you had waited for me to come with you but I get the need to get out of there."

"How are you being so good about this?" He laughed at how shocked she looked.

"You'd rather I was angry?"

"No, of course not."

"I guess I'm just not overly surprised your grandma pulled something like this. It was me that went over the line, I shouldn't have spoken to her like that, she will never let me in that house again."

"According to my mum you really went all out." She instantly felt bad when his face twisted in guilt. "She also said she egged you into it and everything you said was justified."

"Doesn't mean I should have done it."

"She deserved it, she shouldn't have done that to you."

"This wasn't about me Rory. This was about her, and her control issues."

"I thought we had worked all this stuff out after I moved back out. I don't know how to face her again after this."

"She's your grandmother Rory, you have to work it out with her."

"No, I don't. My dad got in contact with my mum before the wedding, he came into some family money and he's offering some to us. I wasn't going to take him up on it, but paying for Yale was one thing he offered. It could stop me having to do this Friday Night Dinner thing anymore."

"You never mentioned that before."

"Yeah, because I wasn't interested in taking him up on the offer. Now it doesn't seem so bad though."

"To have these strings with your dad instead?"

"He isn't the sort the add strings, I think he really is just offering. Having Gigi has changed his outlook on the whole parenting thing, I think he feels bad for not having more input earlier."

"Ok, it's up to you and if you feel it's best to have your dad pay for Yale then you should do it. But you still shouldn't cut out your grandma, she thought she was doing something good."

"How can you stick up for her after tonight?"

"She's family, sometimes they screw up. I honestly think she was trying to help, in her own twisted way, she just wants what she thinks is best for you."

"She clearly doesn't know what's best for me."

"Ok, I won't push, I promise. Just think about it, please?"

"I'll think about it. In a meantime I'll get in contact with my dad about taking on paying for Yale."

He just sighed loudly, he didn't know how to get Rory to forgive her grandma but he didn't want this rift to continue. He hated being part of the reason for it, Rory had been close to her grandparents for years.

* * *

"Your sure you want this?" Lorelai was sitting opposite her daughter at Luke's.

"Yeah. It's better this way, dad doesn't want anything in return for paying for Yale and it has the bonus of putting a stop to Friday Night Dinners."

"I'm guessing you haven't told the grandparents this yet?"

"I can't deal with it right now, I can't talk to her."

"I get that kid. When do you think you'll talk to her again?"

"I don't know if I will. She was horrible and the way she treats Jess..."

"I know hun. How is he doing with it all?"

"I'm not sure, he wants me to talk to them, but he seems happy that I'm connecting with dad more too."

"So overall supportive?"

"Very much so, I can't believe how good he was about Friday, he ended up sticking up for grandma."

"Wow, I didn't see that coming."

"Me neither."

"So, when is this man stealing you away?"

"We leave tomorrow afternoon, I'll be back for the last few days before going back to school though."

"I've liked having you around lately."

"I like being here, it's time Jess got back to Truncheon though."

"And you just can't stand to stay away from him." Rory laughed loudly at the way her mum said that.

* * *

Jess had tried to talk to Rory about talking to her grandparents but it hadn't worked. They were leaving for Truncheon tomorrow and he hated the idea of them leaving without things being patched up. He hated going behind Rory's back but he hoped he would be forgiven for this as he pulled up outside her grandparents house. He sighed loudly as he rang the doorbell and waited for a response. A maid answered the door and he asked to Mr or Mrs Gilmore, she left him in the foyer as she went to find someone. He was glad when it was Mr Gilmore that came back with her.

"Jess! What do I owe the pleasure?"

"I came to talk about Rory."

"Then, please come on in." He led him into the living room and gave him a glass of water as he sat opposite him. "Is something the matter?"

"Well, I've tried talking to her about forgiving her grandma, it hasn't worked. I know her and I know she hates being in the outs with you two, I know how close you two are in particular. I don't want her to regret cutting you out of her life, and know she will."

"It's very good of to come here and try to fix things, I expected you to never want to come here again after the way my wife treated you."

"I've always known you are a package deal with a relationship with Rory. I've accepted you will be in my life for as long as she is."

"I hope that is a very long time. I know my wife always preferred that Logan but I can't imagine him ever doing this for her."

"I know she doesn't like me but she shouldn't let that be the cause of losing Rory."

"I wholeheartedly agree. I will talk to her, let her know you came, get her to make the effort to reconnect with her."

"We are going to be at my place for the next few weeks." He hadn't over a small piece of paper with Truncheon's address on it. "In two weeks, we are holding a small party, a celebration of sorts for our clients, it's an annual thing we do. If your both free, we would be happy to have to join us for it."

"I believe we could make it over there."

"My number is on there, when you've spoken about it to Mrs Gilmore can you call me, I can give you all of the details you need. I'd really like it if both of you came, Rory would too."

"I'll make sure we are there then."

Jess stood up then to leave, he was surprised when Mr Gilmore reached out and shook his hand before walking him to the door.


	35. Chapter 35

Rory and Lorelai were standing outside Liz's house Saturday evening, both Luke and Jess left a few hours ago to start cooking the meal as Luke decreed it would take that long to make the three course meal Liz wanted him to cook. Rory went forward to ring the doorbell, she knew tonight would be better than the previous, she knew Jess was happy to see Doula again, Luke was the one to open the door and usher them in without any greeting.

"He doesn't seem happy." Rory was quiet as she spoke to her mum as Luke quickly walked back to the kitchen.

"Liz stresses him out, especially if she's been fighting with TJ again." Rory pulled a face at that, she knew Jess had similar issues with Liz.

They walked further into the house and saw Jess stood in the kitchen with Luke now at his side, both of them looking less than happy about thier circumstances.

"Hey, nice of you girls to finally make it." Jess looked happy to see them walk in.

"Hey, we are exactly on time. I deserved some alone time with our girl." Lorelai was the one to answer him.

"Yes you did, and did you enjoy your afternoon together?" He hugged Rory close to him then, glad that she was there with him now.

"We did, thank you. What did you do with your afternoon?" Rory noticed a sudden change in his posture as she asked that question.

"Not much really, been here the last couple hours helping Luke out setting up for dinner."

"Uh huh, and before you got here?" She could tell he wasn't telling her everything.

"Nothing in particular." She was surprised when Jess turned away from her suddenly. "You should get to the table, food is nearly ready and I think Doula would like to see you again, Liz is with her in there." He realised he was rambling but couldn't seem to stop himself, he relaxed when Rory left to go and see Liz and Doula though.

"Everything ok there Jess?" It was Luke that asked the question as Lorelai left to follow Rory.

"Yeah, why?"

"Just seemed as if something was going on." He sighed heavily, he knew he had been very obvious about how uncomfortable he was.

"I may have done something that will make her mad, I don't want her to find out before she has to."

"What'cha do?" Jess looked out towards the dining room, there was no sign of either of the girls listening in.

"I went to see the Gilmores." He said it quietly but Luke missed the hint as he made a loud strangled noise.

"You did what?" He quickly looked back through the door, glad to see no one was coming through it.

"I wanted to fix things between Rory and her grandma, I spoke to her grandpa and he wants it fixed too. I invited both of them to the party in a couple of weeks, he said they will both come, if he can convince her to go with him."

"Oh Jess. You shouldn't have done that behind her back, but you did a good thing. I hope it works."

"Me too. I just know she will be agree if she find out now, if I can leave it until just before the party..."

"Have fun with that." Luke laughed shortly at the thought.

"At least until she is in Philedelphia with me."

"Ok, my lips are sealed. Just try not to act like your hiding something, Rory will jump to all sorts of conclusions." Jess just nodded before helping Luke start to dish up the first course of the meal.

* * *

"Seriously good food Luke." Rory complimented Luke's cooking heartily.

"Yeah, how come you never cook like this for me?" Lorelai had a look of mock hurt as she spoke.

"The last time I cooked a meal for you at home, you told me there was 'green stuff' in it, refused to eat it and dragged me to my own diner to cook you a burger."

"Oh yeah." She laughed at the memory. "That's what you get for trying to feed me healthy foods."

The group laughed at Luke's, less than happy, reaction that statement. Conversation had been slow during the dinner but now everyone had finished it was starting up again.

"My big brother, the best chef in the world." Liz started picking up the plates to clear the table.

Rory noticed Jess roll his eyes as Liz spoke, he was bouncing Doula on his lap as he had been since he finished eating. She smiled when she saw them together, he clearly enjoyed seeing his sister. She started to doze off in his arms and Jess stood up.

"I'm gonna go put her down, I'll be down in a minute."

He left the rest of the group sat at the able.

"He's good with her." Lorelai looked over to her duaghter who was watching the space Jess disappeared. "Taken to being a big brother."

"He is, I think he loves being a brother."

"Everything ok kid?"

"Yeah, he just seems in an odd mood tonight." She hadn't noticed anything but she took Rory's word for it.

"Well, family dinners. It's been a rough couple of days." Rory had to agree with her there.

"Yeah, it has." Liz came back to the table then and the conversation halted.

* * *

"You have to go tomorrow?" Jess laughed lightly at the question being posed again by Lorelai.

"Yeah, we have to go. You're going to come and see us in a couple of weeks for the party." Rory seemed to be supressing laughter as she spoke as well.

"Definitely, we will be there to see Truncheon and you guys."

"Oh yeah, you haven't seen the place yet." Jess hadn't realised until now this would be her first visit.

"No, I haven't, will be great to see though."

"It's not much."

"It's amazing, you'll love it." He laughed at Rory's outburst.

"You'll have to point out all the best things to do in Philadelphia."

"How long do you expect me to stay there with you?"

"We have to stay a couple of days at least." Jess laughed out loud at the expression Luke pulled at her.

Luke just shook his head, he knew there was no arguing with her on this. He was happy to stay there for a few days if that's what she wanted.

"Where's the nearest hotel for us to stay in?"

"There's actually no need, there's a spare room above truncheon, we would share a kitchen and living room but you'd have your own en suite bathroom."

"Sounds perfect."


	36. Chapter 36

"Emily, I need to discuss something with you." Richard had been trying to bring up this cinversation for the last few days to no avail, his wife kept telling him she was too busy to sit and talk with him.

"What is it Richard?" They had been at odds since the Friday Night dinner, he had gotten angry with her and now he was getting the silent treatment in return.

"It's about Rory." He got the reaction he expected as she tutted at him and turned away from him. "We will lose her Emily, we have nearly lost her in the past but this time she won't make the first move, and neither will Lorelai." She still didn't turn to him or acknowledge that he had spoken. "That young man is good for her, Emily."

"Oh, please."

"Did you learn nothing from your prying with Lorelai?"

"What do you mean by that?" He recognised the dangerous tone but he had to make his point to her.

"Trying to ruin her relationship with Luke, how many times did she seperate herself from us, argue with us? Do you want the same with Rory?"

"Of course I don't."

"Then we have to make this right. This man, Jess, is sticking around, and I for one like the fact he will be. I like them together and she seems very happy with him."

"She was happy with Logan."

"Maybe once, and I know how much you loved those two together but you have to stop this. It isn't happening and I don't believe he was good for her in the end." He could see her thinking about the points he was putting forward. "Jess is good for her, he challenges her and pushes her to be a better journalist. He came here, on Saturday, the day after he was treated so horribly and he came back here to try to make things right for her. He knew how much Rory would hate losing time with us, how much she would want this fixed and so he came and talked to me. He invited us both to party at his publishing house in Phildelphia, I told him we would love to attend."

"Oh, Richard."

"Don't give me that look Emily. I've already accepted the invitation and I believe we need to go and fix this if we are going to have a good relationship with Rory again. We both want that."

"Well, given that I have no say in the matter, I suppose I have no choice but to go to this party with you."

"And you will make an effort with Jess?"

"I'll do the best I can." He knew that would be the best he could get out of her but he was glad he had got her to agree to coming to the party.

"Very well, Emily."

He made his way into his study, he now had to call Jess to let him know they would be there and get the final details for the party. Jess picked up the phone after a couple of rings.

"Hello, Jess?"

"Yes, speaking." Jess didn't recognise the voice on the other end of the phone.

"This is Richard Gilmore." He found himself glad that Rory hadn't come into room he was sat in.

"Ah, Mr Gilmore, it's nice to hear from you."

"And you. I hope everything is well over there?"

"Yes, very well, me and Rory are at mine now."

"I'm glad to here it. I was just calling to let you know me and Emily will be at the party you are holding there."

"That's great, thank you so much for making that happen."

"It's my pleasure."

"Well, the party is next Saturday, it starts at 6 and there isn't really a dress code. We're a fairly casual bunch here and most of the people will be authors and poets, some I would very much enjoy introducing you to."

"We will be there at 6 o'clock next Saturday then. I'd love to meet the authors you work with."

"Great, I look forward to seeing you there."

"And I you. I'll let you get back to your work now. Goodbye Jess."

"Goodbye Mr Gilmore."

"And please, call me Richard."

"Alright, thank you again and I'll see you soon... Richard." Jess heard a small laugh come from down the line at the hesitation before the line went dead.

He still felt bad about not telling Rory about going to her grandparents. He wasn't sure how to bring it up or how it would go if he did, but he also knew he would have to tell her before the party came around. They had been in Philadelphia for a couple of days and they had fallen into a good rhythm, Rory spending most of her days in the shop with them looking at books or helping them bounce ideas around between them. Both Chris and Matt had told him how much they approved of her.

* * *

The party was getting closer and Jess still hadn't spoke to Rory about her grandparents coming, she had been wrapped in helping them plan the evening and it had kept them both busy. He couldn't help but feel guilty about keeping this from her, he knew he had done it for the right reasons but he hated keeping a secret from her. He knew it would only be worse if she was surpised by them on the day.

"So, the party is coming together nicely." They were waiting for take out to arrive to the apartment, Rory knew something was going on but figured Jess would talk to her when he was ready, she wondered if he was getting stressed about the party.

"Yeah, I think it's all sorted, we have to shift everything out of the way on the day but other than that we are all set."

"And the guest list is all sorted?"

"Yeah of course." She wanted to do all she could to put his worries to rest. "What's worrying you?"

"Ok, I don't want you to get mad." She was confused now, unsure how the party plans could lead to her getting mad at him.

"I won't get mad, what's going on?" She turned to face him head on, getting concerned about where this conversation was going.

"I want to start by apologising for hiding this from you, I couldn't find a way to say this to you. But I went to speak to your grandparents, well your grandfather at least."

"What?!"

"After that awful Friday Night dinner, I went to talk to him. I'm sorry but I felt so bad about being something to come between you and them and so I went and talked things through with him. He agreed with me that he didn't want you so angry with your grandmother."

"Jess, if she wanted to make things right she should come to me, it wasn't our job to go to her."

"I know that, but your grandfather didn't do anything wrong Rory. And he was my best chance at getting through to her, to get her to see she should come forward and talk to you." He heard the sigh come from Rory meaning she could see his point in that at least. "So I went to go and see him and we talked, he agreed with me about trying to fix things, so I told him about the party, thinking it would be a great time to get you both in the same room."

"You did what? Jeez, Jess."

"Ok, I should have told you about this earlier than now, I know that and I'm sorry. I did start with that but I' saying it again." He could hear himself rambling but couldn't stop himself. "He agreed though, and I told him all the details and he said they will both be here."

"So they are both coming?"

"Yeah, it's a big enough group that you don't have to focus on just her but it means you can talk, maybe let her apologise. Rory, I know you hate being at odds with them, I just wanted to help."

"When?"

"When, what?"

"When did you do this, when did you go and talk to my grandpa?"

"The next day, before dinner with Liz. I felt terrible about how I had spoken to her and I was going to go over to apologise but then he came out and we talked, I had also planned on bringin that up anyway but I haven't had chance to apologise at all yet."

"You've been hiding this from me since that night?"

"I didn't want you to get angry and boycott the party, it was still so fresh for you. I figure it was best to leave it for a few days but then I kept chickening out, thinking you would just get angry at me. Which I really hope you aren't right now."

"Well, I'm not happy you hid it from me. Or really that you did it in the first place, she should have made the first move that make it up to us."

"She never would have done that Rory." He heard her sigh again. "I'm sorry."

"I get why you did it, and if it goes well at the party, I may even feel like thanking you for this."

There was a knock at the door then and Rory headed down to grab the take-out food. He found himself relaxing now he had got his secret out, he hoped the party would go well and Rory would see it was a good idea for him to do this.


End file.
